CVE-2026-81839

Undergoing Analysis Undergoing Analysis - In Progress

Arbitrary CI/CD Pipeline Execution in GitLab EE

Publication date: 2026-10-13

Last updated on: 2026-10-14

Assigner: GitLab Inc.

Description

GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab EE affecting all versions from 18.1 before 19.2.8, 19.3 before 19.3.5, and 19.4 before 19.4.2 that, under certain conditions, could have allowed an authenticated user to execute arbitrary CI/CD pipelines in a transferred project with the new group's privileges due to improper cleanup of scheduled pipeline execution policy records.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-10-13

Last Modified

2026-10-14

Generated

2026-10-19

AI Q&A

2026-10-13

EPSS Evaluated

2026-10-18

NVD

CVE-2026-81839

EUVD

EUVD-2026-98220

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
gitlab	gitlab	From 19.3.0 (inc) to 19.3.5 (exc)
gitlab	gitlab	From 19.4.0 (inc) to 19.4.2 (exc)
gitlab	gitlab	From 18.1.0 (inc) to 19.2.8 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-863	The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability in GitLab EE allows an authenticated user to execute arbitrary CI/CD pipelines in a transferred project with the new group's privileges due to improper cleanup of scheduled pipeline execution policy records. It affects versions from 18.1 before 19.2.8, 19.3 before 19.3.5, and 19.4 before 19.4.2.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves improper cleanup of scheduled pipeline execution policy records in GitLab EE. To detect it, check for unauthorized CI/CD pipeline executions in transferred projects. Review GitLab logs for pipeline triggers with elevated privileges not matching the original user's permissions. Look for pipelines running under group credentials in projects transferred to new groups.

Impact Analysis

An attacker with access could misuse this flaw to run unauthorized pipelines, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruption, or unauthorized code execution within the affected GitLab environment.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access or data exposure, violating compliance requirements for GDPR (data protection) and HIPAA (health data security), potentially resulting in legal penalties or reputational damage.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade GitLab EE to version 19.2.8, 19.3.5, or 19.4.2 or later to remediate the vulnerability. Ensure all instances are updated to address the improper cleanup of scheduled pipeline execution policy records.

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