CVE-2022-3286 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE) versions from 14.2 up to but not including 15.2.5, versions 15.3 up to but not including 15.3.4, and versions 15.4 up to but not including 15.4.1. The vulnerability arises due to improper access control related to IP address restrictions on deploy tokens. Specifically, GitLab EE fails to properly enforce IP address checking for deploy tokens used by group members. Deploy tokens are credentials that allow automated access to repositories for deployment or CI/CD purposes. Normally, administrators can restrict deploy token usage to specific IP addresses to limit access scope. However, due to this flaw, group members can bypass these IP restrictions when using deploy tokens, potentially allowing unauthorized access from any IP address. This weakness is categorized under CWE-284 (Improper Access Control). The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3 (medium), with the vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), limited confidentiality impact (C:L), and no integrity or availability impact (I:N/A:N). No known exploits are reported in the wild as of the publication date (October 17, 2022). The vulnerability affects the confidentiality of repository data accessible via deploy tokens but does not impact integrity or availability. The root cause is a lack of IP address validation when authenticating deploy tokens, allowing group members to circumvent intended IP-based access controls. This could lead to unauthorized disclosure of source code or sensitive project data if deploy tokens are compromised or misused by group members from unauthorized IPs.

For European organizations using GitLab EE in the affected versions, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized access to source code repositories and related project data. Since deploy tokens are often used in automated deployment pipelines and CI/CD workflows, bypassing IP restrictions could allow an attacker or malicious insider with group membership to exfiltrate code or sensitive configuration files from outside the intended network perimeter. This could lead to intellectual property theft, exposure of sensitive credentials or secrets stored in repositories, and potential downstream supply chain risks if compromised code is deployed. The confidentiality impact is moderate, as the vulnerability does not allow modification or deletion of data, but unauthorized disclosure can still have significant business and compliance consequences. European organizations in regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure may face additional compliance risks under GDPR and other data protection laws if sensitive information is leaked. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the ease of exploitation (no privileges or user interaction required beyond group membership) means that insider threats or compromised accounts could leverage this vulnerability. Organizations relying heavily on GitLab EE for software development and deployment should prioritize remediation to maintain secure development lifecycles and protect intellectual property.

1. Upgrade GitLab EE to a fixed version: Apply patches by upgrading to versions 15.2.5 or later for the 15.2 branch, 15.3.4 or later for the 15.3 branch, and 15.4.1 or later for the 15.4 branch. This is the most effective mitigation as it corrects the IP address checking logic. 2. Review and restrict group membership: Limit group membership to trusted users only, minimizing the risk of malicious insiders exploiting this vulnerability. 3. Audit deploy token usage: Regularly audit deploy tokens in use, revoke any unnecessary or unused tokens, and rotate tokens periodically. 4. Implement network-level controls: Use firewall rules or VPNs to restrict access to GitLab instances and deployment environments, adding an additional layer of IP filtering outside GitLab. 5. Monitor access logs: Enable detailed logging and monitor for unusual deploy token usage patterns, especially from unexpected IP addresses. 6. Use alternative authentication methods: Where possible, prefer deploy keys or personal access tokens with stricter controls over deploy tokens. 7. Educate developers and administrators: Raise awareness about the vulnerability and the importance of secure token management and access control. These steps, combined with patching, will reduce the risk of unauthorized access via this vulnerability.