ZeroHour

CVE-2026-19478

mass1

Unauthenticated GraphQL Code Injection in GitLab CE/EE Enables Data Tampering

CVSS 3.1
9.1 critical
EPSS
6%p93
Published
()
Modified
AI analysis

GitLab has patched a critical (CVSS 9.1) code injection flaw (CWE-94) in how GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) process GraphQL directives. Under certain conditions, an unauthenticated remote attacker can abuse a GraphQL directive to modify or delete public projects and user data on affected instances, requiring no privileges or user interaction; the impact is to integrity and availability, not confidentiality. Affected versions span all GitLab CE/EE releases from 18.2 before 18.11.11, 19.0 before 19.0.8, 19.1 before 19.1.6, and 19.2 before 19.2.4, which covers self-managed installations as well as the same codebase that powers the GitLab.com SaaS. News reports indicate the flaw came under active exploitation within days of disclosure, and EPSS assigns a 5.8% probability of exploitation within 30 days (93rd percentile). It is not yet listed in CISA's KEV catalog and no public proof-of-concept is known, but defenders should treat it as an actively exploited, unauthenticated, high-impact issue.

What to do: Upgrade all GitLab CE/EE instances to 18.11.11, 19.0.8, 19.1.6, or 19.2.4 (or later) immediately, prioritizing internet-facing instances given confirmed active exploitation. Until patched, restrict unauthenticated access to the GraphQL API endpoint at the network or WAF layer. Review instance audit logs and public projects for signs of unauthorized modifications or deletions of projects and user data.

Affected
GitLab CEall versions from 18.2 before 18.11.11, 19.0 before 19.0.8, 19.1 before 19.1.6, and 19.2 before 19.2.4
GitLab EEall versions from 18.2 before 18.11.11, 19.0 before 19.0.8, 19.1 before 19.1.6, and 19.2 before 19.2.4
Estimated exposure
massmillions of users (GitLab.com SaaS runs the same code) plus tens of thousands of internet-exposed self-managed CE/EE instances — Public internet-wide scans routinely surface tens of thousands of exposed GitLab servers, and because the vulnerable code also powers GitLab.com with a registered-user base well above one million, the total plausibly affected population…

Order-of-magnitude estimate by the model from install counts, market share and public scan data it knows; verify before quoting.

Description

GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 18.2 before 18.11.11, 19.0 before 19.0.8, 19.1 before 19.1.6, and 19.2 before 19.2.4 that under certain conditions could allow an unauthenticated user to remotely modify or delete public projects and user data via a GraphQL directive.

Vendors
gitlab
Products
gitlab
Weakness
CWE-94
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

In the news

GitLab CVE-2026-19478 Comes Under Active Exploitation Within Days of Disclosure

Unauthenticated attackers are actively exploiting GitLab CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4) to modify or delete public projects days after disclosure.

GitLab CVE-2026-19478, a CVSS 9.4 code injection flaw exploitable via a GraphQL directive without authentication, allows attackers to modify or delete publicly accessible projects, rewrite repository data, forge merge records, and ban maintainers. Affected versions include GitLab CE/EE 18.2 before 18.11.11, 19.0 before 19.0.8, 19.1 before 19.1.6, and 19.2 before 19.2.4. watchTowr reproduced the flaw within minutes of disclosure and observed in-the-wild exploitation against its honeypot network. Fixes shipped in 19.2.4, 19.1.6, 19.0.8, and 18.11.11; interim mitigations include restricting unauthenticated access to /api/graphql or removing public repository access.

The Hacker News · 25d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-194781

GitLab CVSS 10 File-Read Flaw Draws In-the-Wild Probes After Disclosure

GitLab patched CVE-2026-85706, a CVSS 10.0 unauthenticated path traversal enabling arbitrary file reads, already probed in the wild.

GitLab released patches for a maximum-severity path traversal flaw (CVE-2026-85706, CVSS 10.0) in the repository commits API, caused by improper path confinement and missing authentication enforcement, allowing unauthenticated arbitrary file reads. watchTowr observed active in-the-wild probes starting 06:00 UTC on September 11, 2026; exploitation requires at least one public project and enables theft of credentials, secrets, and configuration data. GitLab also patched CVE-2026-87719 (CVSS 9.9), an insecure deserialization bug in Enterprise Edition allowing authenticated Duo Chat users to access Advanced Search configurations and sensitive credentials via crafted GraphQL subscription arguments. Affected versions include 18.7 before 19.1.8, 19.2 before 19.2.6, and 19.3 before 19.3.2, and the flaw follows the recently exploited GraphQL code injection bug CVE-2026-19478.

GitLab Warns of Active Exploitation of Critical GraphQL Flaw

GitLab emergency-patches actively exploited flaw CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4), letting unauthenticated attackers modify or delete public projects on self-managed servers.

GitLab emergency-patched CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4) on August 17 after WatchTowr researchers warned of active exploitation. The flaw lets unauthenticated attackers remotely modify or delete public projects and user data through a GraphQL directive, affecting only self-managed installations. Fixes ship in versions 19.2.4, 19.1.6, 19.0.8, and 18.11.11; the 18.2-18.10 branches receive no patch and must upgrade. Until patching, defenders should restrict unauthenticated access to /api/graphql, disable public repositories, and hunt for @gl_introduced in logs.

Security Affairs · 23d agoExploit / PoC in the wildCVE-2026-194781

⚡ Weekly Recap: AI-Powered PLC Attacks, GitLab Attacks, Stripe Key Leaks and More

US agencies warn of AI-assisted attacks on exposed Siemens PLCs; the week also saw GitLab CVE-2026-19478 exploited and trojanized npm packages found.

The weekly recap leads with a US government warning that threat actors use AI-generated scripts and Censys/ZoomEye scanning to attack internet-exposed Siemens S7 PLCs in water, energy and manufacturing, calling it an active threat. Other stories include active exploitation of GitLab CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4, unauthenticated project rewriting), 14 trojanized npm packages delivering the RedC2 4.0 Linux backdoor, and the Zombie Card attack that revives expired Visa cards for contactless payment fraud. It also covers suspected Russian clusters UNC6293, UNC7005 and UNC5976 phishing campaigns, a faster Cloudflare Workers Spectre JWT leak, and a bespoke Cl0p JSP web shell deployed after exploiting PTC Windchill flaws.

The Hacker News · 18d agoThreat actor in the wildCVE-2026-194781

Critical GitLab flaw allows attackers to modify or delete public projects (CVE-2026-19478)

GitLab patched a critical unauthenticated code injection flaw CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4) enabling modification or deletion of public projects; upgrades urged.

GitLab released patches for two vulnerabilities affecting Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) versions 18.2 before 18.11.11, 19.0 before 19.0.8, 19.1 before 19.1.6, and 19.2 before 19.2.4. CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4) is an unauthenticated code injection via a GraphQL directive, exploitable remotely without user interaction, allowing attackers to modify or delete public projects and user data. CVE-2026-19650 (CVSS 7.1) is a cross-site request forgery issue in the GraphQL multiplex query handler allowing mutations via GET requests with user interaction. Fixes are available in 18.11.11, 19.0.8, 19.1.6, and 19.2.4; both flaws were reported via GitLab's HackerOne bug bounty program.

GitLab Patches Critical Unauthenticated GraphQL Vulnerability

GitLab issued an emergency patch for a critical unauthenticated GraphQL flaw (CVE-2026-19478, CVSS 9.4) enabling remote modification or deletion of public projects.

GitLab patched CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4), an unauthenticated GraphQL directive flaw allowing remote modification or deletion of public projects and user data on self-managed servers. The emergency patch released August 17 covers versions 19.2.4, 19.1.6, 19.0.8, and 18.11.11, but no fixes exist for the 18.2-18.10 branches. A second issue, a CSRF weakness in GraphQL multiplex queries (CVE-2026-19650, CVSS 7.1), shipped in the same release. No exploitation or public PoC has been observed; the flaw was reported by hiimguardian through HackerOne.

Critical GitLab GraphQL Flaw Could Let Unauthenticated Attackers Delete Public Projects

GitLab urgently patched CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4), a critical unauthenticated GraphQL flaw allowing modification or deletion of public projects on self-managed instances.

GitLab released an out-of-band critical patch on August 17, 2026 fixing CVE-2026-19478 (CVSS 9.4), a flaw that under certain conditions lets unauthenticated attackers remotely modify or delete public projects and user data via a GraphQL directive in Community and Enterprise Editions. Fixes are available in GitLab 19.2.4, 19.1.6, 19.0.8, and 18.11.11; GitLab.com and GitLab Dedicated are already patched, so only self-managed installations need to act. The release also fixes CVE-2026-19650 (CVSS 7.1), a cross-site request forgery flaw in GraphQL multiplex query handling requiring user interaction. No exploitation or public exploit code has been observed as of August 18, 2026.

Week in review: Records allegedly stolen from Azure tenants, Medusa ransomware hits 500+ orgs

Week in review: Medusa ransomware hit 500+ orgs per CISA, millions of Azure tenant records allegedly stolen, SafePal and French tax authority breaches disclosed.

Help Net Security's weekly roundup covers the FBI, CISA, and HHS joint advisory update reporting Medusa ransomware has breached more than 500 organizations since June 2021, and threat actor TheHatman's claim of millions of employee records stolen from Azure tenants of Fortune 500 firms including McDonald's, Vodafone, Kyndryl, and Tata Consultancy Services, per Hudson Rock. It also covers the SafePal breach affecting 39,798 customers, France's DGFiP breach exposing data on 678,000 individuals, and UT San delaying its fall semester after a cyberattack. Security items include critical unauthenticated GitLab flaw CVE-2026-19478, an actively exploited patched macOS Screen Sharing flaw deploying a cryptominer, US charges against 17 Mabna Institute Iranian hackers over 31TB of stolen academic data, and Google Mandiant's AI agents finding 100+ high-severity vulnerabilities.

Help Net Security · 23d agoData breach in the wildCVE-2026-19478