Overview
CVE-2025-8014 is a severe cybersecurity vulnerability affecting GraphQL endpoints in Gitlab EE/CE. It affects all versions from 11.10 prior to 18.2.7, 18.3 prior to 18.3.3, and 18.4 prior to 18.4.1. This vulnerability potentially allows unauthenticated users to bypass query complexity limits leading to resource exhaustion and service disruption, which increases the risk of system compromise or data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-8014
Severity: High (7.5 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System Compromise or Data Leakage
Affected Products
Product | Affected Versions
Gitlab EE | 11.10 to 18.2.6, 18.3 to 18.3.2, 18.4 to 18.4.0
Gitlab CE | 11.10 to 18.2.6, 18.3 to 18.3.2, 18.4 to 18.4.0
How the Exploit Works
The exploit works by taking advantage of the GraphQL endpoints in Gitlab EE/CE. An unauthenticated user can send overly complex queries that bypass the system’s query complexity limits. This leads to resource exhaustion as the system attempts to process these queries, causing service disruption and potentially allowing for further attacks on the system.
Conceptual Example Code
Consider the following example of a malicious GraphQL query that could exploit this vulnerability:
POST /api/graphql HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{
"query": "{ user(id: '1') { posts { title, content, comments { text } } } }"
}In this example, the query is requesting a large amount of data (all posts, their titles, contents, and all associated comments) for a single user. The sheer complexity and size of this query can overwhelm the system, leading to a denial of service.
