What is CVE-2021-22205?

CVE-2021-22205 is a critical-severity vulnerability in GitLab, classified under Code Injection. CVSS score: 10.0/10. Published 2021-04-23.

How severe is CVE-2021-22205?

Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 10.0 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-22205 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-22205 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 136 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

RCE in GitLab

CVE-2021-22205

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.

Vulnerability class: RCE (Remote Code Execution)

Published 2021-04-23 · last modified 2026-08-06.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 10.0 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.997 (100.0th percentile), scored 2026-10-12.

Very high probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — among the top 0.1% most-likely-to-be-exploited CVEs. 100th percentile — 100.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.997 · newest: 0.997 · change: 0.000

Affected products

GitLab — versions >=11.9, <13.8.8, >=13.9, <13.9.6, >=13.10, <13.10.3

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-94 — Code Injection

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2021-11-03. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2021-11-17.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Known ransomware campaign use: yes.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

hackerone.com/reports/1154542 (Permissions Required, Third Party Advisory)
gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/327121 (Broken Link)
gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22205.json (Vendor Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Remote-ExifTool-Com… (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/164994/GitLab-13.10.2-Remote-Code-Execution.html (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-22205?: CVE-2021-22205 is a critical-severity vulnerability in GitLab, classified under Code Injection. CVSS score: 10.0/10. Published 2021-04-23.
How severe is CVE-2021-22205?: Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 10.0 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-22205 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2021-22205 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 136 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.