Bottom line: An unpatched, critical GitLab vulnerability (CVE-2026-19478) allows unauthenticated attackers to modify or delete public repositories with a single HTTP request, making immediate patching to version 19.2.4/19.1.6/19.0.8/18.11.11 and temporarily securing the /api/graphql endpoint urgently necessary.
GitLab has fixed a critical vulnerability (CVE-2026-19478) that allowed unauthenticated attackers to manipulate or completely delete code repositories with a single HTTP request. Additionally, a high-risk CSRF flaw (CVE-2026-19650) was resolved.
The critical vulnerability CVE-2026-19478 is described as code injection via the GraphQL directive and was privately reported through GitLab’s bug bounty program on HackerOne. A second, high-risk-rated flaw, CVE-2026-19650, affects a CSRF issue in the GraphQL multiplex query handler. GitLab has fixed both issues in versions 19.2.4, 19.1.6, 19.0.8 and 18.11.11 for both the Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE).
The exploit for CVE-2026-19478 requires neither credentials nor user interaction nor any special configuration. Attackers can use it to rewrite the state of GitLab repositories, forge merge records, lock out maintainers, and delete entire projects. The flaw is particularly critical for GitLab instances directly accessible from the internet, as it enables software supply chain attacks. GitLab is widely used as a self-hostable alternative to GitHub, especially among companies that operate their own DevOps platforms with CI/CD pipelines and security scanning.
Security researchers at watchTowr warn that although details of the vulnerability are not yet public, the patch can easily be reverse-engineered. Jake Knott, Principal Security Researcher at watchTowr, told CSO that his team was able to reproduce the vulnerability within minutes of the disclosure becoming known, based solely on the advisory and the patch. He believes AI-assisted attackers will not lag far behind.
CISOs running GitLab instances in their own environment should apply the patches immediately. Until this is possible, it is recommended to set affected repositories to private and to block unauthenticated access to the /api/graphql endpoint.
Source: www.csoonline.com · Published August 18, 2026
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