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GitLab fixes 10.0-rated flaw that lets attackers run code on servers without logging in
GitLab says CVE-2026-110264, patched Oct. 21 and scored 10.0, could under certain conditions give an outsider with no login code execution on self-managed servers. GitLab.com is already covered, and GitLab told The Hacker News it has seen no attacks.
- Our desk updated its story
Primary source: GitLab critical patch release notes and advisory for CVE-2026-110264 (Oct. 21, 2026)
GitLab told every self-managed customer on Wednesday, Oct. 21, to install one of seven new builds right away: 19.5.1, 19.4.3, 19.3.6, 19.2.9, 19.1.9, 19.0.10 or 18.11.131,2. The most serious bug in the batch, CVE-2026-110264, carries the maximum CVSS score of 10.01,2.
In its advisory, GitLab says an outsider who has no login could, under certain conditions, use the bug to execute code of their choosing on the server1. The company traces it to an integer overflow when a specially crafted regular expression is compiled1. The Hacker News noted that the company has not spelled out those conditions2.
The exposure stretches back to GitLab 7.0, with each branch vulnerable until its new build1. GitLab says it also delivered the fix to the 18.11, 19.0, 19.1 and 19.2 lines, beyond its regular releases1. According to The Hacker News, that goes past the company's normal support window of the latest three monthly versions, and the 2014-era reach comes from Onigmo, Ruby's regex engine, which ships bundled with GitLab2.
Customers of GitLab's hosted service do not need to do anything, according to the company: GitLab.com is on the patched code, as are Dedicated tenants at 19.3.5-internal0, 19.4.2-internal0 or newer1,2. The burden falls on organizations that run GitLab on their own servers1.
GitLab's notice is silent on whether anyone has exploited the bug; it does offer two detection rules for self-managed admins, "Onigmo native worker crash" and "Org mode render error burst"1. The Hacker News attributed to GitLab the statement that there is no sign of attacks so far2. CISA's catalog of exploited vulnerabilities did not include the CVE in its Oct. 21 version5.
The finder, credited by GitLab, is a HackerOne bug-bounty participant known as joaxcar1. GitLab's earlier advisories credit the same handle with CVE-2026-97229, a 10.0-rated regex bug open to attackers without a login that was patched Oct. 123, and with two 9.9-rated regex bugs that needed a login, patched Sept. 234. The Hacker News described the new one as that researcher's fourth such report within a month, and the only one affecting releases before 19.22.
That sequence matters for administrators who already patched. Per The Hacker News, a server brought up to date on Oct. 12 now sits one release short of the new fix and is exposed again2,3.
Other bugs closed in the same release include CVE-2026-15723, rated 8.2, an account-takeover risk that applies only when SAML and LDAP auto-linking are both switched on, and CVE-2026-112212, rated 7.5, which could let an attacker poison a shared cache and redirect some sign-in traffic1,2. GitLab's advisory table has 12 entries; The Hacker News counted 111,2.
Patching may mean an outage. On a single-node server, GitLab says, the 19.3.6 and 19.4.3 builds stay offline until their database migrations complete; larger multi-node installations can avoid that by following the company's zero-downtime upgrade steps1,2.
No interim workaround appears in GitLab's advisory, The Hacker News said, so configuration alone cannot be relied on to protect a server2. GitLab says the detailed issue reports for its security fixes go public 90 days after each release1.
Sources
- GitLabGitLab Critical Patch Release: 19.5.1, 19.4.3, 19.3.6, 19.2.9, 19.1.9, 19.0.10, 18.11.13
- The Hacker NewsCritical GitLab Flaw (CVSS 10.0) Could Allow Unauthenticated RCE Across 12 Years of Releases
- GitLab (Oct. 12 release)GitLab Critical Patch Release: 19.4.2, 19.3.5, 19.2.8
- GitLab (Sept. 23 release)GitLab Critical Patch Release: 19.4.1, 19.3.3, 19.2.7
- CISAKnown Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (JSON feed)
How it’s being reported
5 versions from 1 source
Show all
GitLab Critical Patch Release: 19.5.1, 19.4.3, 19.3.6, 19.2.9, 19.1.9, 19.0.10, 18.11.13
Leads with an instruction for every self-managed installation to upgrade at once and notes its hosted services are already covered.
The vendor's own release notes and advisory, listing the critical regex-compiler flaw, its score, the affected branches and the other fixes in the release.
Leaves out Does not spell out the conditions needed to trigger the flaw or say anything about attacks in the wild.
Critical GitLab Flaw (CVSS 10.0) Could Allow Unauthenticated RCE Across 12 Years of Releases
Leads with the 12-year reach back to version 7.0 and warns that servers patched on Oct. 12 are vulnerable again.
Swati Khandelwal's report on the patch, with a version table, the Ruby regex-engine root cause and the researcher's string of earlier finds.
GitLab Critical Patch Release: 19.4.2, 19.3.5, 19.2.8
Leads with the Oct. 12 fixes and the CI/CD regex flaw.
GitLab's earlier advisory for CVE-2026-97229, a separate 10.0-rated regex flaw reachable without login, also credited to joaxcar.
Leaves out Predates the Oct. 21 flaw.
GitLab Critical Patch Release: 19.4.1, 19.3.3, 19.2.7
Leads with the September fixes, including the two regex flaws.
GitLab's September advisory for two 9.9-rated regex flaws that required a signed-in user, both credited to joaxcar.
Leaves out Predates the Oct. 21 flaw.
Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (JSON feed)
A list of exploited flaws, not a report on this one.
U.S. catalog of flaws confirmed exploited; catalog version 2026.10.21 does not list CVE-2026-110264 (checked 4:05 PM ET).
Leaves out Says nothing about this flaw directly.