What is CVE-2021-39868?

CVE-2021-39868 is a medium-severity vulnerability in GitLab, classified under Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource. CVSS score: 4.3/10. Published 2021-10-04.

How severe is CVE-2021-39868?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.3 out of 10.

Vulnerability in GitLab

CVE-2021-39868

In all versions of GitLab CE/EE since version 8.12, an authenticated low-privileged malicious user may create a project with unlimited repository size by modifying values in a project export.

Published 2021-10-04 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.009 (57.9th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 58th percentile — 57.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.009 · newest: 0.009 · change: 0.000

Affected products

GitLab — versions 4.3.0, >=14.3, <14.3.1, >=14.2, <14.2.5

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-732 — Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

References

gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/24649 (Broken Link)
hackerone.com/reports/420258 (Permissions Required, Third Party Advisory)
gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-39868.json (Vendor Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-39868?: CVE-2021-39868 is a medium-severity vulnerability in GitLab, classified under Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource. CVSS score: 4.3/10. Published 2021-10-04.
How severe is CVE-2021-39868?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.3 out of 10.