{"id":"CVE-2021-22205","published":"2021-04-23T18:15:08Z","modified":"2026-08-06T05:16:35Z","title":"GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions Remote Code Execution Vulnerability","vendor":"GitLab","product":"Community and Enterprise Editions","tier":"core","eol":null,"description":{"text":"An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9. GitLab was not properly validating image files that were passed to a file parser which resulted in a remote command execution.","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"summary":{"text":"The flaw lies in GitLab's Community and Enterprise Editions, where image files passed to a file parser were not properly validated. An attacker who can supply a crafted image to the affected component can achieve remote command execution.","provenance":"ai","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","generatedAt":"2026-10-29T07:53:31Z"},"cvss":{"score":10.0,"severity":"CRITICAL","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"epss":{"score":0.99731,"percentile":0.99953,"date":"2026-10-31","provenance":"source"},"kev":{"dateAdded":"2021-11-03","dueDate":"2021-11-17","ransomware":true,"requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","notes":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22205","provenance":"source"},"vulncheckKev":{"dateAdded":"2021-11-03","exploitedFirstSeen":"2021-11-03","ransomware":true,"evidence":[{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","date":"2021-11-03"},{"url":"https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-cerber-ransomware-targets-confluence-and-gitlab-servers/","date":"2021-12-07"},{"url":"https://cybersecurityworks.com/howdymanage/uploads/file/ransomware-_-2022-spotlight-report_compressed.pdf","date":"2022-01-26"},{"url":"https://go.crowdstrike.com/rs/281-OBQ-266/images/Report2022GTR.pdf","date":"2022-02-15"},{"url":"https://blog.netlab.360.com/men-sheng-fa-da-cai-fodchajiang-shi-wang-luo/","date":"2022-04-13"},{"url":"https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security-trends-cross-site-scripting/","date":"2022-05-31"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts/aa22-279a","date":"2022-10-06"},{"url":"https://ti.qianxin.com/blog/articles/GooberBot:-New-Member-of%20Scar-Rental-Botnet/","date":"2023-02-10"},{"url":"https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/unc961-multiverse-financially-motivated","date":"2023-03-23"},{"url":"https://permiso.io/blog/s/unmasking-guivil-new-cloud-threat-actor/","date":"2023-05-22"}],"evidenceTotal":33,"provenance":"source"},"exploited":true,"otx":null,"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-94","name":"Improper Control of Generation of Code"},{"id":"CWE-20","name":"Improper Input Validation"},{"id":"CWE-95","name":"Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code"}],"references":[{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Remote-ExifTool-Command-Injection.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164994/GitLab-13.10.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22205.json","tags":["Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/327121","tags":["Broken Link"]},{"url":"https://hackerone.com/reports/1154542","tags":["Permissions Required","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Remote-ExifTool-Command-Injection.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164994/GitLab-13.10.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22205.json","tags":["Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/327121","tags":["Broken Link"]},{"url":"https://hackerone.com/reports/1154542","tags":["Permissions Required","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-22205","tags":["US Government Resource"]}],"techniques":[{"id":"T1190","name":"Exploit Public-Facing Application","tactics":["initial-access"],"provenance":"source","basis":"ctid-kev","bases":["ctid-kev"],"basisDetail":"CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution","mappingType":"exploitation_technique","evidence":[],"comment":"CVE-2021-22205 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability allowing unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected systems. The vulnerability was reported to be actively exploited for o assemble botnets and launch gigantic distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. ","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"CTID KEV capability group \"code execution\" is generic"},{"id":"T1059","name":"Command and Scripting Interpreter","tactics":["execution"],"provenance":"source","basis":"ctid-kev","bases":["ctid-kev"],"basisDetail":"CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution","mappingType":"primary_impact","evidence":[],"comment":"CVE-2021-22205 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability allowing unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected systems. The vulnerability was reported to be actively exploited for o assemble botnets and launch gigantic distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. ","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"CTID KEV capability group \"code execution\" is generic"},{"id":"T1498","name":"Network Denial of Service","tactics":["impact"],"provenance":"source","basis":"ctid-kev","bases":["ctid-kev"],"basisDetail":"CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution","mappingType":"primary_impact","evidence":[],"comment":"CVE-2021-22205 is a Remote Code Execution Vulnerability on GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions where threat actors have been reported to actively exploit the security flaw to co-opt unpatched GitLab servers into a botnet and launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"CTID KEV capability group \"code execution\" is generic"},{"id":"T1496","name":"Resource Hijacking","tactics":["impact"],"provenance":"source","basis":"ctid-kev","bases":["ctid-kev"],"basisDetail":"CTID Mappings Explorer KEV 07/28/2025 (ATT&CK 16.1); capability: Code Execution","mappingType":"secondary_impact","evidence":[],"comment":"CVE-2021-22205 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability allowing unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected systems. The vulnerability was reported to be actively exploited for o assemble botnets and launch gigantic distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. ","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"CTID KEV capability group \"code execution\" is generic"}],"reports":[],"affected":[],"advisories":[],"euvd":{"id":"EUVD-2021-9351","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2021-9351","exploited":true,"exploitedSince":"2021-11-03","provenance":"source"},"exploits":[{"id":50532,"url":"https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50532","title":"GitLab 13.10.2 - Remote Code Execution (RCE) (Unauthenticated)","type":"webapps","platform":"ruby","date":"2021-11-17","verified":false,"provenance":"source"}],"exploitSources":{"exploitdb":{"count":1,"earliest":"2021-11-17"},"pocGithub":{"count":22,"skipped":4,"earliest":"2021-06-05","earliestUrl":"https://github.com/mr-r3bot/Gitlab-CVE-2021-22205","repos":[{"name":"Al1ex/CVE-2021-22205","url":"https://github.com/Al1ex/CVE-2021-22205","stars":287,"created":"2021-10-29"},{"name":"inspiringz/CVE-2021-22205","url":"https://github.com/inspiringz/CVE-2021-22205","stars":238,"created":"2021-11-11"},{"name":"mr-r3bot/Gitlab-CVE-2021-22205","url":"https://github.com/mr-r3bot/Gitlab-CVE-2021-22205","stars":180,"created":"2021-06-05"},{"name":"XTeam-Wing/CVE-2021-22205","url":"https://github.com/XTeam-Wing/CVE-2021-22205","stars":86,"created":"2021-10-28"},{"name":"r0eXpeR/CVE-2021-22205","url":"https://github.com/r0eXpeR/CVE-2021-22205","stars":69,"created":"2021-10-28"}]},"metasploit":[{"name":"GitLab Unauthenticated Remote ExifTool Command Injection","module":"exploit/multi/http/gitlab_exif_rce","type":"exploit","disclosureDate":"2021-04-14","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/gitlab_exif_rce.rb"}],"nuclei":[{"id":"CVE-2021-22205","name":"GitLab CE/EE - Remote Code Execution","severity":"critical","path":"http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-22205.yaml","url":"https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-22205.yaml"}],"first":{"date":"2021-04-14","source":"Metasploit","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/gitlab_exif_rce.rb"},"provenance":"source"},"exploitRefs":["http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Remote-ExifTool-Command-Injection.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164994/GitLab-13.10.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html"],"flow":[{"stage":"exploitation","techniques":["T1190"],"provenance":"source"},{"stage":"primary","techniques":["T1059","T1498"],"provenance":"source"},{"stage":"secondary","techniques":["T1496"],"provenance":"source"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2021-04-14","kind":"exploit-public","label":"First public exploit: Metasploit; later: PoC-in-GitHub 2021-06-05, Exploit-DB 2021-11-17","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/gitlab_exif_rce.rb","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-04-23","kind":"published","label":"Published (NVD)","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22205","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-11-03","kind":"exploited-reported","label":"Exploitation first reported (VulnCheck KEV evidence)","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-11-03","kind":"kev","label":"Added to CISA KEV (known ransomware use)","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","provenance":"source"},{"date":"2021-11-03","kind":"euvd-exploited","label":"ENISA EUVD: exploited","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2021-9351","provenance":"source"}],"speed":{"daysToPublicExploit":null,"firstExploitFrom":"Metasploit","daysToKev":194},"priority":{"score":77.0,"factors":[{"name":"In a KEV catalog","points":35.0,"detail":"listed in CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV"},{"name":"Recent KEV listing","points":0.0,"detail":"added 1824 days ago"},{"name":"Known ransomware use","points":10.0,"detail":"CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV: Known"},{"name":"EPSS percentile","points":19.99,"detail":"percentile 0.9995"},{"name":"Named in threat reports","points":0.0,"detail":"0 reports"},{"name":"Public exploit code","points":5.0,"detail":"2 NVD references tagged Exploit; 1 Exploit-DB entry; 22 PoC-in-GitHub repos; 1 Metasploit module; 1 nuclei template"},{"name":"Mentioned in OTX pulses","points":0.0,"detail":"0 pulses"},{"name":"CVSS severity","points":7.0,"detail":"base score 10.0"},{"name":"End-of-life product","points":0.0,"detail":"supported or unknown"}]}}