Medium

Information disclosure through error messages in GitLab CE/EE API

IdentifiersCVE-2025-13978CWE-209· Generation of Error Message…

CVE-2025-13978 is an information disclosure vulnerability in GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition. Affected versions are all releases from 17.5 before 18.4.6, 18.5 before 18.5.4, and 18.6 before 18.6.2. The flaw is described as information disclosure through error messages in API requests, allowing an authenticated user to discover the names of private projects that they are not authorized to access. The issue appears to stem from insufficient neutralization of sensitive information in API error handling, causing private project names to be exposed to users lacking access permissions.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows an authenticated attacker to enumerate and disclose the names of private projects outside their authorization scope. While the issue does not by itself grant direct access to project contents, it leaks sensitive metadata that can aid reconnaissance, tenant mapping, targeting of high-value repositories, and follow-on attacks against users or projects identified through the exposed names.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by limiting API access to trusted authenticated users only, enforcing least-privilege access, and monitoring for abnormal API enumeration behavior or repeated requests that may be probing for inaccessible project references. Review application logs for suspicious authenticated API activity and minimize unnecessary user access until the fixed version can be deployed. Vendor patching is the primary mitigation.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade GitLab CE or EE to a fixed release. The vulnerability is remediated in 18.4.6, 18.5.4, and 18.6.2. Self-managed deployments running affected versions should be updated to the appropriate patched version or a later release. Because the release includes database migrations, upgrade planning should account for possible downtime on single-node deployments, while multi-node deployments may use GitLab zero-downtime upgrade procedures where applicable.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

GitLabGitlabapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

9 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

9 SOURCESView more in app

cyber security newsNews

Dec 11, 2025

GitLab Patches Multiple Vulnerabilities that Allows Attackers to Trigger XSS and DoS Attack

An information disclosure vulnerability in GitLab (details not specified beyond information disclosure).

gitlab releasesNews

Dec 10, 2025

GitLab Patch Release: 18.6.2, 18.5.4, 18.4.6 | GitLab Docs

A medium-severity information disclosure issue in GitLab that could allow an authenticated user to discover names of private projects through API error messages.

gitlab releasesNews

Mar 18, 2026

GitLab Patch Release: 18.6.2, 18.5.4, 18.4.6 | GitLab

An information disclosure issue in GitLab where error messages/API responses could reveal private project names to authenticated users without access.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity5