CVE-2023-5825 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') in GitLab

Medium 6.5 Published 6 Nov 2023 Updated 29 Apr 2026

A low-privileged attacker can cause a server memory exhaustion denial of service by pointing a CI/CD component to an incorrect path.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2023-5825?

CVE-2023-5825 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab, published on 6 Nov 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.3.6, all versions starting from 16.4 before 16.4.2, all versions starting from 16.5 before 16.5.1. A low-privileged attacker can point a CI/CD Component to an incorrect path and cause the server to exhaust all available memory through an infinite loop and cause Denial of Service.

Weakness: CWE-835

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-5825?

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

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`gitlab` Bitnami	From `16.2.0`	`16.3.6, 16.4.2, 16.5.1`

Products include Gitlab Gitlab.

How do I fix CVE-2023-5825?

Upgrade gitlab to a fixed version for your release line: 16.3.6, 16.4.2 or 16.5.1.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2023-5825 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-5825 exists.

All Gitlab Gitlab vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as BIT-gitlab-2023-5825, GHSA-gwvc-g4vv-pjx6, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-5825.