Unauthorized assignee changes via overbroad update permission
Published Jan 26, 2024 · Updated Jun 15, 2026
Authorization bypass in GitLab 14.0 through 16.6.5, 16.7 through 16.7.3, and 16.8.0 allows remote authenticated users to alter MR assignees. MergeRequests::UpdateAssigneesService and UpdateReviewersService accepted the broad update_merge_request permission instead of a stricter metadata permission. Any authenticated author, including a project non-member, could alter assignees or reviewers on an owned merge request through REST or GraphQL.
Summary
What happened
Authorization bypass in GitLab 14.0 through 16.6.5, 16.7 through 16.7.3, and 16.8.0 allows remote authenticated users to alter MR assignees. MergeRequests::UpdateAssigneesService and UpdateReviewersService accepted the broad update_merge_request permission instead of a stricter metadata permission. Any authenticated author, including a project non-member, could alter assignees or reviewers on an owned merge request through REST or GraphQL.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-0456
- Published
- Jan 26, 2024
- Updated
- Jun 15, 2026
- Vendor
- GitLab
- Product
- GitLab
- Classifications
- CWE-425, T1565.001
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 26, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 15, 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=14.0 <16.6.6
- Affected versionversion=16.7 <16.7.4
- Affected versionversion=16.8 <16.8.1
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
- GitLab merge-request assignee update reproductionproof 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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