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The vulnerability, CVE-2025-13611, stems from an improper access control mechanism within GitLab’s log handling features. Under specific conditions, certain application logs could inadvertently capture sensitive tokens, such as API or authentication tokens, during normal operations. An authenticated user with permissions to view these logs—typically through the administrative interface or integrated logging viewer—could then access these logs and extract the embedded tokens. This occurs because the log generation process does not adequately scrub or mask these sensitive values before writing them to the log files or presenting them in the UI. The flaw does not require direct exploitation of a code execution bug but rather leverages excessive data exposure through an intended logging function. The attacker needs existing authenticated access to the project or instance with privileges to view the relevant logs, making it a post-authentication issue.
Platform: GitLab CE/EE
Version: 13.2-18.4.4
Vulnerability: Information Disclosure
Severity: Medium
Date: 11/26/2025
Prediction: Patched 12/02/2025
What Undercode Say:
Analytics
grep -r "api_token" /var/log/gitlab/
tail -f /var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/application.log
find /opt/gitlab/embedded -name ".log" -exec grep -l "secret" {} \;
How Exploit:
1. Attacker authenticates to GitLab.
2. Navigates to logging/observability features.
3. Searches or filters logs for token patterns.
4. Extracts discovered tokens.
5. Uses tokens for unauthorized API access.
Protection from this CVE
- Upgrade GitLab immediately.
- Review audit logs.
- Rotate exposed tokens.
Impact:
- Unauthorized data access.
- Privilege escalation possible.
- Token leakage.
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Sources:
Reported By: nvd.nist.gov
Extra Source Hub:
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