Protected-variable access via compliance authorization bypass
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
Missing authorization in GitLab EE allows remote authenticated users with the Security Manager role to run CI/CD jobs and read protected variables. The compliance framework management path applies improper authorization controls before permitting job execution within group projects. The issue affects 18.11 before 19.1.8, 19.2 before 19.2.6, and 19.3 before 19.3.2, and requires an authenticated Security Manager account.
Summary
What happened
Missing authorization in GitLab EE allows remote authenticated users with the Security Manager role to run CI/CD jobs and read protected variables. The compliance framework management path applies improper authorization controls before permitting job execution within group projects. The issue affects 18.11 before 19.1.8, 19.2 before 19.2.6, and 19.3 before 19.3.2, and requires an authenticated Security Manager account.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-16794
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- GitLab
- Product
- GitLab
- Classifications
- T1059
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 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=18.11 <19.1.8
- Affected versionversion=19.2 <19.2.6
- Affected versionversion=19.3 <19.3.2
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
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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