CVE-2021-22205 GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions Remote Code Execution

Exploited in the wild Critical 10.0 Published 23 Apr 2021 Updated 6 Aug 2026

Remote attackers can execute arbitrary commands by uploading malicious image files to GitLab, requiring immediate patching.

Exploited in the wild: Since 3 Nov 2021
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2021-22205?

CVE-2021-22205 is a critical code injection vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab, published on 23 Apr 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-94

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-22205?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including gitlab. It affects 1 product.

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`gitlab` Bitnami	From `11.9.0`	`13.8.8, 13.9.6, 13.10.3`

Products include Gitlab Gitlab.

How do I fix CVE-2021-22205?

Upgrade gitlab to a fixed version for your release line: 13.8.8, 13.9.6 or 13.10.3. US federal agencies must fix it by 17 Nov 2021.

Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.

Is CVE-2021-22205 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2021-22205 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021, including in ransomware campaigns.

Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module, 1 Exploit-DB entry, 1 Nuclei template and 26 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Gitlab Gitlab vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BIT-gitlab-2021-22205, GHSA-vgp2-3hxm-6x85, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-22205.