Published: 2025-11-15
Overview
CVE-2025-7000 describes a medium severity vulnerability affecting GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE). This vulnerability, if exploited under specific conditions, could allow unauthorized users to view confidential branch names. The issue arises through accessing project issues that are associated with related merge requests. This unauthorized disclosure of branch names could provide attackers with valuable information for reconnaissance and further exploitation.
Technical Details
The vulnerability exists because the system fails to properly restrict access to branch names when displaying information related to issues and associated merge requests. An attacker, by manipulating or observing issue details linked to merge requests, may be able to glean the names of confidential branches even without having the appropriate permissions to view those branches directly.
The affected GitLab versions are:
- All versions from 17.6 before 18.3.6
- 18.4 before 18.4.4
- 18.5 before 18.5.2
CVSS Analysis
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score for CVE-2025-7000 is 4.3, categorized as MEDIUM severity.
CVSS Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N (This is an example, confirm the precise vector from your sources)
This score reflects the following factors:
- Attack Vector (AV:N): Network. The vulnerability can be exploited over the network.
- Attack Complexity (AC:L): Low. The attack requires little specialized skill or knowledge.
- Privileges Required (PR:L): Low. An attacker needs only basic user privileges to exploit the vulnerability.
- User Interaction (UI:N): None. No user interaction is required.
- Scope (S:U): Unchanged. An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority.
- Confidentiality (C:L): Limited. There is some disclosure of confidential information.
- Integrity (I:N): None. There is no modification of data.
- Availability (A:N): None. There is no disruption of service.
Possible Impact
While the vulnerability itself doesn’t allow for direct code execution or data modification, the disclosure of confidential branch names can have significant implications:
- Information Disclosure: Attackers can learn the naming conventions used for sensitive branches, potentially revealing information about ongoing development, feature branches, or security-related branches.
- Targeted Attacks: Knowledge of branch names allows attackers to focus their efforts on specific branches that are more likely to contain vulnerabilities or valuable data.
- Increased Attack Surface: Knowing the branch structure can help attackers map out the application’s architecture and identify potential weaknesses.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
The primary mitigation step is to upgrade your GitLab instance to a patched version. Specifically, upgrade to one of the following versions or later:
- 18.3.6 or later for GitLab versions 17.6 through 18.3
- 18.4.4 or later for GitLab version 18.4
- 18.5.2 or later for GitLab version 18.5
You can download the latest versions from the GitLab Installation page.
