Client browser hang via unbounded Mermaid flowchart
Published Dec 1, 2023 · Updated Apr 30, 2026
Resource exhaustion in affected GitLab EE releases allows remote authenticated users to hang clients with crafted Mermaid flowcharts. The Mermaid renderer expands highly connected Flowchart TB nodes and edges without a complexity limit, driving browser CPU to 100% and delaying page loads. Exploitation requires permission to place a diagram in comment-bearing content and user interaction when a client opens or reloads that page.
Summary
What happened
Resource exhaustion in affected GitLab EE releases allows remote authenticated users to hang clients with crafted Mermaid flowcharts. The Mermaid renderer expands highly connected Flowchart TB nodes and edges without a complexity limit, driving browser CPU to 100% and delaying page loads. Exploitation requires permission to place a diagram in comment-bearing content and user interaction when a client opens or reloads that page.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-4912
- Published
- Dec 1, 2023
- Updated
- Apr 30, 2026
- Vendor
- GitLab
- Product
- GitLab
- Classifications
- CWE-770, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 1, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 30, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=10.5 <16.4.3
- Affected versionversion=16.5 <16.5.3
- Affected versionversion=16.6 <16.6.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Mermaid Flowchart client-side denial-of-service payloadproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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