CVE-2024-2800: Mitigating Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in GitLab Using Fortinet
CVE-2024-2800: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in GitLab
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) identifier CVE-2024-2800 addresses a significant security flaw in GitLab's enterprise and community editions. This vulnerability, discovered by joaxcar via GitLab's bug bounty program, is specifically a Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) flaw found in the RefMatcher when matching branch names using wildcards. This issue affects all GitLab versions from 11.3 up to but not including 17.0.6, 17.1.4, and 17.2.2 respectively.
The vulnerability, categorized under CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity, allows for a denial of service (DoS) via regex backtracking. This particular ReDoS flaw has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5, which translates to medium severity. However, the availability impact is rated high, highlighting the critical nature of mitigating this vulnerability.
Impact:
- Attack Vector: Network
- Attack Complexity: Low
- Privileges Required: Low
- User Interaction: None
- Scope: Unchanged
- Confidentiality Impact: None
- Integrity Impact: None
- Availability Impact: High
This vulnerability's primary concern is the potential for attackers to exploit the regex matching process, causing excessive backtracking and subsequent resource consumption. This could potentially render GitLab services unavailable, significantly affecting development workflows and productivity.
Mitigation Steps
GitLab has released patches to address CVE-2024-2800:
- Upgrade to version 17.2.2 or above if you are running the 17.2 branch.
- Upgrade to version 17.1.4 or above if you are running the 17.1 branch.
- Upgrade to version 17.0.6 or above if you are running the 17.0 branch.
To ensure complete protection, follow these steps:
- Update GitLab: Make sure your GitLab instance is updated to the aforementioned versions or later. Regularly apply updates to benefit from the latest security patches.
- Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAF): Fortinet’s FortiWeb provides comprehensive WAF protections, which can be configured to detect and block ReDoS attacks.
- Enable Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS): FortiGate's IPS can be utilized to identify and block malicious traffic targeting the regex vulnerability.
- Monitor Network Traffic: Use FortiAnalyzer to keep an eye on network activity for signs of potential DoS attacks. Timely detection can help mitigate the impact.
- Educate Your Team: Ensure that your development and security teams are aware of the vulnerabilities and the importance of timely patch management.
Fortinet security solutions provide a robust defense against a multitude of cyber threats, including vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-2800. By combining GitLab’s updates with Fortinet's advanced security features, you can significantly reduce the risk posed by such vulnerabilities.
References:Stay secure by keeping your systems updated and investing in reliable security solutions like those offered by Fortinet.
