Is CVE-2021-22205 actively exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks CVE-2021-22205 as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

What exploitation activity has Previdian observed?

Previdian has not yet recorded sensor-observed exploitation attempts for CVE-2021-22205. Our sensors continue to monitor for activity targeting this CVE.

Which versions are affected?

CVE-2021-22205 affects GitLab. Reported affected versions include >=11.9, =13.9, =13.10, <13.10.3.

Yes. CVE-2021-22205 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

CVE-2021-22205 Exploited in the Wild — GitLab

Q: What is CVE-2021-22205?

CVE-2021-22205 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting GitLab. An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9. GitLab was not properly validating image files that were passed to a file parser which resulted in a remote command execution.

Q: How should organizations remediate it?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Q: Is it in CISA KEV?

Yes. CVE-2021-22205 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2021-22205 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting GitLab. An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9. GitLab was not properly validating image files that were...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

GitLab >=11.9, <13.8.8.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9

An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9. GitLab was not properly validating image files that were passed to a file parser which resulted in a remote command execution.

Vendor Product Affected Status

GitLab Affected

GitLab

>=11.9, <13.8.8 >=13.9, <13.9.6 >=13.10, <13.10.3

Affected

Published: 23 Apr 2021
Exploitation Reported: 03 Nov 2021
Attack vector: Remote
Complexity: Low
Privileges: None
User interaction: None

CVE References

CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-22205
hackerone.com/reports/1154542 hackerone.com · CVE Record https://hackerone.com/reports/1154542
gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/327121 gitlab.com · CVE Record https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/327121
gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-... gitlab.com · CVE Record https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22205....
packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Remote-E... packetstormsecurity.com · CVE Record http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Re...
packetstormsecurity.com/files/164994/GitLab-13.10.2-Remote-Code-Exec... packetstormsecurity.com · CVE Record http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164994/GitLab-13.10.2-Remote-Cod...

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 03 Nov 2021

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Used in malware

CISA

Recorded 02 Jun 2026

Malware families have been linked to exploitation of this CVE.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 05 Jun 2021

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access

Source	Added
CISA First	2021-11-03 00:00 UTC
The Shadowserver	2026-07-13 00:00 UTC
CVE	2026-08-01 04:50 UTC
The Hacker News	2026-10-09 12:32 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts: 0; 0; 0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Scanner coverage

Metasploit template detected 28 Apr 2025.

View Metasploit template

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner	Reference	Detected
Metasploit	https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/gitlab_exif_rce.rb	28 Apr 2025
Nuclei	https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-22205.yaml	25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

10.0 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

99.7%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') CWE-94

Recent mention · The Hacker News

09 Oct 2026

Flax Typhoon Exploits Five Flaws as CISA Sets October 11 Deadline for Federal Agencies

Ravie LakshmananOct 09, 2026Vulnerability / Cyber Espionage The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added five security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, following their abuse by a China-linked threat actor known...

Read full advisory

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 10.0 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 7.5 High

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

All Mentions

Recent mention · The Hacker News

Flax Typhoon Exploits Five Flaws as CISA Sets October 11 Deadline for Federal Agencies

The Hacker News · 09 Oct 2026

Ravie LakshmananOct 09, 2026Vulnerability / Cyber Espionage The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Thursday added five security flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, following their abuse by a China-linked threat actor known as Flax Typhoon. The vulnerabilities in question are listed below - CVE-2015-3306 (CVSS score: 10.0) - An improper access control vulnerability in ProFTPD that could allow remote attackers to read and write to arbitrary files via the site cpfr and site cpto commands. CVE-2021-3199 (CVSS score: 9.8) - A path traversal...

Recent mention · The Hacker News

FBI Says China-Linked Hackers Ran Portal Giving Third Parties Access to Stolen Emails

The Hacker News · 08 Oct 2026

Swati KhandelwalOct 08, 2026Data Breach / Cyber Espionage Hackers tied to a Chinese cybersecurity company stole email from government organizations, law enforcement agencies, healthcare systems, and religious institutions in Southeast Asia, the FBI and agencies in 6 other countries said on October 8. The company, Integrity Technology Group, has been sanctioned by the U.S. and the UK. The hackers scanned websites for flaws using a tool containing more than 1,300 scripts, guessed passwords for Microsoft 365 and Exchange accounts, and copied mailboxes using tools designed to collect mail....

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

inspiringz/CVE-2021-22205

github · Created 2021-11-11 04:34:07 UTC · 224 stars · AI assessment 90%

GitLab CE/EE Preauth RCE using ExifTool

whwlsfb/CVE-2021-22205

github · Created 2021-10-30 02:56:34 UTC · 22 stars · AI assessment 90%

CVE-2021-22205 Gitlab 未授权远程代码执行漏洞 EXP, 移除了对djvumake & djvulibre的依赖，可在win平台使用

Al1ex/CVE-2021-22205

github · Created 2021-10-29 04:30:45 UTC · 273 stars · AI assessment 90%

CVE-2021-22205& GitLab CE/EE RCE

r0eXpeR/CVE-2021-22205

github · Created 2021-10-28 14:02:51 UTC · 68 stars · AI assessment 90%

CVE-2021-22205 Unauthorized RCE

XTeam-Wing/CVE-2021-22205

github · Created 2021-10-28 06:29:37 UTC · 86 stars · AI assessment 90%

Pocsuite3 For CVE-2021-22205

mr-r3bot/Gitlab-CVE-2021-22205

github · Created 2021-06-05 15:42:16 UTC · 182 stars · AI assessment 90%

GitLab CE/EE - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

09 Oct 2026
12:32 UTC

KEV confirmed by The Hacker News

Exploitation attested by an external source
01 Aug 2026
04:50 UTC

KEV confirmed by CVE

Exploitation attested by an external source
13 Jul 2026
00:00 UTC

KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

Exploitation attested by an external source
02 Jun 2026
14:08 UTC

First public exploitation report

Exploit observed in malware
28 Apr 2025
15:02 UTC

Metasploit module available

Exploit module available
25 Apr 2025
00:00 UTC

Nuclei template available

Scanner coverage available
03 Nov 2021
00:00 UTC

Added to CISA KEV

Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
05 Jun 2021
15:42 UTC

Public PoC available

Public proof-of-concept code published
23 Apr 2021
17:39 UTC

CVE published

Vulnerability disclosed publicly
05 Jan 2021
00:00 UTC

CVE ID reserved

Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs

Evidence confidence and provenance
First-party sensor telemetry
PoC and scanner references
Affected versions and enrichment
Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2021-22205

Sample API response

{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2021-22205",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 10.0,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99731,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

CVE-2021-22205

An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9

Tags

CVE References

Exploited in the wild

Used in malware

Proof of concept available

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Observed signals

Scanner coverage

Virtual patch status

Scanner Artifacts

Weaknesses

Flax Typhoon Exploits Five Flaws as CISA Sets October 11 Deadline for Federal Agencies

All CVSS Scores

All Mentions

Potential Proof of Concepts

KEV confirmed by The Hacker News

KEV confirmed by CVE

KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

First public exploitation report

Metasploit module available

Nuclei template available

Added to CISA KEV

Public PoC available

CVE published

CVE ID reserved

Automate this intelligence