Overview
CVE-2025-9825 is a medium-severity security vulnerability affecting GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE). This flaw allows authenticated users, *without* project membership, to potentially view sensitive manual CI/CD variables. The vulnerability stems from an issue in the GraphQL API that could be exploited to bypass access controls. This impacts all versions from 13.7 to 18.2.8, 18.3 before 18.3.4, and 18.4 before 18.4.2. GitLab has addressed this vulnerability in versions 18.3.4 and 18.4.2. Updating your GitLab instance is crucial to mitigate the risk.
Technical Details
The vulnerability resides within GitLab’s GraphQL API. An improperly implemented authorization check allowed authenticated users to query the API for CI/CD variable information related to projects to which they do not have explicit membership. Specifically, a flaw in the handling of requests could permit these users to retrieve sensitive manual CI/CD variables. Exploitation required an attacker to be an authenticated GitLab user; however, they did not require any specific permissions within the targeted project beyond being a registered user on the GitLab instance. This improper access control allowed unintended information disclosure via the GraphQL API.
CVSS Analysis
This vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 5.0, indicating a MEDIUM severity. The CVSS vector string and detailed breakdown can be found on the NIST NVD website (when available in the future).
Possible Impact
The successful exploitation of CVE-2025-9825 could lead to the exposure of sensitive information stored as CI/CD variables. This information may include:
- API Keys
- Passwords
- Database Credentials
- Other secrets essential to the operation of CI/CD pipelines and application deployments.
The exposure of these secrets could enable attackers to compromise systems, escalate privileges, or gain unauthorized access to critical resources. Since only manually created variables are at risk, the attack surface is smaller than if all CI/CD variables were exposed. Nevertheless, the impact can be significant depending on the nature of the exposed variables.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
To mitigate the risk associated with CVE-2025-9825, it is highly recommended to upgrade your GitLab instance to the latest patched version. Specifically, upgrade to:
- Version 18.3.4 or later for the 18.3 series.
- Version 18.4.2 or later for the 18.4 series.
- Consider upgrading to the latest stable release branch for the best security posture.
GitLab has released patches that address this vulnerability in the aforementioned versions. Ensure you follow the official GitLab upgrade documentation to avoid any issues during the upgrade process. Regularly updating your GitLab instance is a crucial step in maintaining a secure CI/CD environment.
