CVE-2023-6159
Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in GitLab
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
6.5
Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in GitLab
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
- Record
CVE-2023-6159- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1333
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-58409
6.5
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
- Record
EUVD-2023-58409- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6hch-mpjp-2743
6.5
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16...
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
- Record
GHSA-6hch-mpjp-2743- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1333
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
6.5
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
- Record
CVE-2023-6159- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1333
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
6.5
Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in GitLab
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
- Record
CVE-2023-6159- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1333
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-6159
6.5
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-6159- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBIT-gitlab-2023-6159 No score
Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in GitLab
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.7 prior to 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1 It was possible for an attacker to trigger a Regular Expression Denial of Service via a Cargo.toml containing maliciously crafted input.
- Record
BIT-gitlab-2023-6159- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-6159 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Gitlab, published January 26, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.99%, the 62nd percentile. Fixed in gitlab 16.6.6.
References
about.gitlab.com/releases/2024/01/25/critical-security-release-gitlab-16-8-1-released
gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/431924
hackerone.com/reports/2251278
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-6159
github.com/advisories/GHSA-6hch-mpjp-2743
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/6xxx/CVE-2023-6159.json
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-6159
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-6159