CVE-2022-2761 is an information disclosure vulnerability affecting GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) versions from 14.4 up to but not including 15.3.5, 15.4 up to 15.4.4, and 15.5 up to 15.5.2. The vulnerability arises from the way GitLab Flavored Markdown (GFM) references are processed within Jira issues integrated into GitLab. Specifically, an attacker with at least limited privileges (authenticated with low privileges) can craft GFM references in Jira issues that cause GitLab to reveal the names of resources—such as projects, groups, or other entities—that the attacker does not have permission to access. This leakage of resource names constitutes an information exposure vulnerability, potentially enabling attackers to gain insight into the structure and existence of internal resources, which could be leveraged for further targeted attacks or reconnaissance. The vulnerability does not allow modification or deletion of data, nor does it affect availability. It requires the attacker to be authenticated with at least low privileges and does not require user interaction beyond submitting crafted GFM references. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3 (medium severity), reflecting the network attack vector, low attack complexity, required privileges, and limited confidentiality impact without integrity or availability impact. No known exploits in the wild have been reported to date. The issue was publicly disclosed on November 9, 2022, and patches are available in GitLab versions 15.3.5, 15.4.4, and 15.5.2 and later.

For European organizations, this vulnerability primarily poses a risk to confidentiality by exposing the existence and names of internal resources that should remain hidden from unauthorized users. While the direct impact is limited to information disclosure, such reconnaissance data can facilitate more sophisticated attacks, including social engineering, privilege escalation, or targeted exploitation of other vulnerabilities. Organizations using GitLab for source code management, issue tracking, and CI/CD pipelines may inadvertently reveal sensitive project or infrastructure details, potentially compromising intellectual property or operational security. This risk is particularly relevant for sectors with high-value intellectual property or regulated data, such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and government agencies. However, since exploitation requires authenticated access with at least low privileges, the threat is mitigated somewhat by internal access controls and user management policies. The absence of integrity or availability impact reduces the risk of direct operational disruption, but the information exposure could still undermine trust and compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR if sensitive project information is leaked.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading GitLab instances to versions 15.3.5, 15.4.4, 15.5.2, or later, where this vulnerability is patched. Beyond patching, organizations should: 1) Review and tighten user access controls to ensure that only necessary users have authenticated access to GitLab, minimizing the pool of potential attackers. 2) Audit Jira integration configurations and GFM usage policies to restrict or monitor the creation of references that could be exploited. 3) Implement monitoring and alerting on unusual or suspicious activity related to issue creation or modification, especially involving GFM references. 4) Conduct internal security awareness training to inform users about the risks of information leakage through collaborative tools. 5) Regularly review GitLab and Jira logs for anomalous access patterns or attempts to enumerate resources. 6) Consider network segmentation and zero-trust principles to limit lateral movement if an attacker gains low-level access. These steps, combined with timely patching, will reduce the risk of exploitation and limit the potential damage from information disclosure.