A recent security vulnerability has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE, affecting all versions from 16.6 before 17.7.6, 17.8 before 17.8.4, and 17.9 before 17.9.1. This vulnerability, assigned the CVE identification CVE-2024-8186, allows an attacker to inject HTML into the child item search functionality, potentially leading to cross-site scripting (XSS) exploits under certain conditions. In this post, we will delve into the specifics of this security flaw, provide code snippets for reference, and link to the original sources discussing its discovery and solutions.

Vulnerability Details

GitLab, a popular web-based DevOps platform, is used worldwide for source control and collaboration by developers, teams, and organizations. Due to its extensive functionality and integration with numerous tools and services, discovering vulnerabilities becomes a critical task to ensure the security and privacy of both code and the developers who are working on it.

The vulnerability in question consists of a flaw in the child item search functionality implementation within GitLab CE/EE. By exploiting this flaw, an attacker can inject malicious HTML code into the search field, potentially triggering a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack. XSS attacks, in turn, can result in the theft of sensitive user information and compromise the affected platform's security.

Code Snippet

As an example, let us assume that an attacker has injected the following HTML code into the child item search in GitLab:

<script>alert('XSS');</script>

This seemingly harmless script, when executed, would display an alert box with the text "XSS" to the user. In a real attack scenario, more complex and harmful scripts can be employed to steal sensitive user information or otherwise compromise the security of the GitLab instance.

References and Exploit Details

The CVE-2024-8186 vulnerability was discovered by security researchers who thoroughly analyzed the affected GitLab CE/EE versions. Several references and deep dives into the issue have been published online, including the following:

- GitLab Security Advisory
- CVE-2024-8186 Mitre Entry
- GitHub Repository of Affected Versions

They then proceed to inject malicious HTML code into the search query, exploiting the vulnerability.

3. When a user interacts with the altered results or visits a page containing the malicious code, the XSS attack gets executed.

To protect your GitLab instance from the CVE-2024-8186 vulnerability, you should do the following

1. Update your GitLab CE/EE installation to the latest secure version: either 17.7.6, 17.8.4, or 17.9.1.
2. Regularly monitor GitLab's official release notes and security advisories to stay informed about potential security vulnerabilities and other updates.
3. Implement a secure coding and review process within your development practices to help prevent security flaws and to help catch vulnerabilities before they become exploitable.

By diligently staying up-to-date on GitLab's security updates and following best practices, you can help ensure the safety and privacy of your development environment while limiting the likelihood of facing risks associated with the CVE-2024-8186 vulnerability or others like it.

Timeline

Published on: 03/03/2025 10:15:09 UTC
Last modified on: 03/06/2025 14:58:21 UTC