CVE-2026-11827 Overview
CVE-2026-11827 is an improper authorization vulnerability in GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE) that can expose another user's stored credentials. The flaw affects all GitLab EE versions from 9.5 before 18.11.7, 19.0 before 19.0.4, and 19.1 before 19.1.2. An authenticated user holding maintainer-role permissions can, under specific conditions, retrieve credentials belonging to other users due to missing authorization checks. The issue is tracked under [CWE-522: Insufficiently Protected Credentials]. GitLab remediated the flaw in the 19.1.2 patch release.
Critical Impact
A maintainer-role account can access stored credentials belonging to other users, breaking tenant isolation and enabling downstream account takeover of connected systems.
Affected Products
- GitLab EE versions 9.5 through 18.11.6
- GitLab EE versions 19.0 through 19.0.3
- GitLab EE versions 19.1 through 19.1.1
Discovery Timeline
- 2026-07-08 - CVE-2026-11827 published to NVD
- 2026-07-08 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2026-11827
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability resides in GitLab EE's authorization layer governing access to stored credentials. Under certain project or group configurations, GitLab fails to verify that the requesting user owns the credential being retrieved. A user assigned the maintainer role, a common project-administration role below owner, can trigger the flawed code path and obtain another user's stored secret material. Because maintainer is not the highest privilege tier, the flaw effectively promotes maintainers to credential custodians for other users within reachable scopes. GitLab classifies the issue under [CWE-522], indicating credentials are stored without sufficient protection against unauthorized retrieval.
Root Cause
The defect is an improper authorization control. GitLab checks that the caller is authenticated and holds sufficient role permissions to interact with the resource, but does not enforce a per-credential ownership or scope check. The result is a horizontal privilege boundary failure where role-based access alone gates a resource that requires owner-based access.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires an authenticated account with maintainer-role permissions on a target project or group. The attacker issues a network request against the affected API or UI endpoint that returns credential material. No user interaction is required, and the attack executes over the network against reachable GitLab instances. Confidentiality of victim credentials is fully impacted; integrity and availability are not directly affected.
No public proof-of-concept code is available. For technical details, refer to the GitLab Work Item #602478 and the HackerOne Report #3720483.
Detection Methods for CVE-2026-11827
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected access to credential-retrieval API endpoints by non-owner maintainer accounts.
- Audit log entries showing credential reads immediately followed by outbound authentication attempts from those credentials in connected systems.
- Anomalous use of another user's Personal Access Tokens (PATs), deploy keys, or integration tokens after maintainer-role activity.
Detection Strategies
- Enable GitLab audit events and review credential-access events for cross-user retrieval patterns.
- Correlate GitLab maintainer activity with authentication events in connected CI/CD, container registries, and cloud accounts.
- Alert on maintainer accounts accessing credentials they did not create within a defined project window.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Forward GitLab audit and application logs to a central analytics platform for cross-source correlation.
- Monitor for token or secret rotation gaps on GitLab versions still below 18.11.7, 19.0.4, or 19.1.2.
- Track maintainer-role assignments and review them against least-privilege policy on a recurring cadence.
How to Mitigate CVE-2026-11827
Immediate Actions Required
- Upgrade GitLab EE to 18.11.7, 19.0.4, or 19.1.2 or later depending on the deployed branch.
- Rotate any stored credentials that may have been readable by maintainer-role users on affected instances.
- Audit maintainer-role assignments and remove accounts that no longer require that level of access.
Patch Information
GitLab released fixes in versions 18.11.7, 19.0.4, and 19.1.2. See the GitLab Patch Release 19-1-2 for upgrade instructions and included fixes.
Workarounds
- Reduce the number of users assigned the maintainer role on projects and groups containing sensitive credentials until patching is complete.
- Move high-value credentials into external secret managers referenced from GitLab CI/CD variables rather than storing them directly in GitLab.
- Enforce short expirations on Personal Access Tokens and deploy keys to limit exposure windows.
# Verify installed GitLab version and upgrade path
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info | grep -i "GitLab information" -A 5
# Debian/Ubuntu upgrade example to a patched release
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade gitlab-ee=19.1.2-ee.0
# Confirm running version after upgrade
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info | grep "Version"
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
