CVE-2022-3031 is a security vulnerability identified in GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) affecting multiple versions prior to 15.1.6, versions from 15.2 up to but not including 15.2.4, and versions from 15.3 up to but not including 15.3.2. The vulnerability arises from improper access control that allows an attacker to perform brute force password guessing attacks against user accounts by sending specially crafted requests to a specific GitLab endpoint. Notably, this attack vector bypasses two-factor authentication (2FA), meaning that even accounts protected by 2FA are susceptible to password guessing attempts. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-307, which relates to improper restriction of excessive authentication attempts, indicating a failure to adequately limit or monitor repeated login attempts. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 3.7, indicating a low severity level, with the vector string AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N. This means the attack can be performed remotely over the network without privileges or user interaction, but requires high attack complexity. The impact is limited to confidentiality with low impact, as the vulnerability allows partial compromise of user credentials but does not affect integrity or availability. There are no known exploits in the wild as of the published date, and no direct patch links were provided in the source data. However, GitLab has released fixed versions beyond the affected ranges. The vulnerability poses a risk to GitLab instances that have not been updated to patched versions, especially those exposed to the internet or accessible by untrusted users. Attackers could leverage this flaw to gain unauthorized access to user accounts, potentially leading to further compromise of repositories and sensitive project data.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-3031 depends largely on their use of GitLab for source code management and DevOps workflows. Organizations relying on self-hosted GitLab CE or EE instances that have not applied the relevant patches remain vulnerable to brute force password guessing attacks, even if 2FA is enabled. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to user accounts, exposing confidential source code, project management data, and potentially sensitive intellectual property. This could result in data breaches, intellectual property theft, or sabotage of software development pipelines. Although the CVSS score is low, the ability to bypass 2FA reduces the effectiveness of a critical security control, increasing risk. European organizations with internet-facing GitLab instances or those with weak password policies are particularly at risk. Additionally, the vulnerability could be exploited as a foothold for lateral movement within an organization’s network. However, the high attack complexity and lack of known exploits reduce the immediate threat level. Organizations with robust monitoring and incident response capabilities may detect and mitigate brute force attempts before compromise occurs.

European organizations should prioritize upgrading GitLab instances to versions 15.1.6 or later, 15.2.4 or later, and 15.3.2 or later, as appropriate, to remediate this vulnerability. In addition to patching, organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Enforce strong password policies to reduce the likelihood of successful brute force attacks. 2) Implement network-level access controls to restrict access to GitLab endpoints, such as IP whitelisting or VPN-only access for administrative interfaces. 3) Enable and configure rate limiting and account lockout mechanisms on GitLab to detect and block repeated failed login attempts. 4) Monitor authentication logs for unusual login patterns or spikes in failed attempts, and integrate alerts into security information and event management (SIEM) systems. 5) Consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules to detect and block brute force attack patterns targeting GitLab endpoints. 6) Educate users about the importance of unique, strong passwords and the limitations of 2FA in this context. 7) Regularly audit GitLab configurations and user accounts for suspicious activity. These targeted mitigations complement patching and reduce the attack surface, especially in environments where immediate patching is not feasible.