# CVE-2026-97229: GitLab - RCE

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2026-97229 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2026-97229

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Insufficient Data. Not enough CrowdSec telemetry data is available to confidently assess how this vulnerability is exploited in the wild.
- **CVSS score:** 10.0
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** GitLab
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound)
- **Tags:** scm, cicd

## Description

GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 19.2 before 19.2.8, 19.3 before 19.3.5, and 19.4 before 19.4.2 that, under certain conditions, could have allowed an unauthenticated user to execute arbitrary code on the GitLab server via a specially crafted regular expression in a CI/CD configuration, due to insufficient regular expression validation.

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2026-97229](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97229) is a critical remote code execution vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE caused by insufficient validation of regular expressions in CI/CD configurations. Under certain conditions, an unauthenticated attacker can submit a specially crafted expression to execute arbitrary code on the GitLab server, potentially compromising its confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The issue affects versions 19.2 before 19.2.8, 19.3 before 19.3.5, and 19.4 before 19.4.2.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 3rd of November 2026.

CrowdSec has not observed any significant exploitation activity targeting CVE-2026-97229 across its network. As a result, no community-driven trend analysis is available for this vulnerability at this time.

Observed exploitation attempts first access `/users/sign_in` and then submit a crafted CI/CD configuration containing a specially formed regular expression to `/api/v4/ci/lint`. The regex targets GitLab’s validation process and can trigger unauthenticated remote code execution on vulnerable instances.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-13: CVE Published. CVE-2026-97229 is published to NVD.
- 2026-10-29: CISA KEV. CVE-2026-97229 is added to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog by CISA.
- 2026-11-01: CISA Remediation Deadline. Expiration of the CISA remediation deadline as described in [BOD 22-01](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-22-01-reducing-significant-risk-known-exploited-vulnerabilities).
- 2026-11-03: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2026-97229 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2026-11-04: First exploitation attempt seen by CrowdSec

## References

- https://docs.gitlab.com/releases/patches/patch-release-gitlab-19-4-2-released/
- https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/work_items/630686
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2026/CVE-2026-97229.yaml

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2026-97229) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2026-97229. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.