CVE-2021-22205

CRITICAL KEV RANSOMWARE NUCLEI

GitLab 11.9.0-13.8.7 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via ExifTool Image Parsing

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2021-22205 is actively exploited and listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added November 3, 2021, with confirmed use in ransomware campaigns. EIP tracks 32 public exploits from researchers including Jacob Baines, Al1ex, inspiringz, including a Metasploit module exploits/multi/http/gitlab_exif_rce. A Nuclei detection template is also available.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit leverages CVE-2021-22205 in GitLab versions before 13.10.3, 13.9.6, and 13.8.8 by crafting a malicious DjVu file that triggers a reverse shell via ExifTool. The payload is sent to a vulnerable GitLab instance, resulting in unauthenticated remote code execution.

Description

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.

Exploits (32)

exploitdb WORKING POC
by Jacob Baines · textwebappsruby
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50532

This exploit leverages CVE-2021-22205 in GitLab versions before 13.10.3, 13.9.6, and 13.8.8 by crafting a malicious DjVu file that triggers a reverse shell via ExifTool. The payload is sent to a vulnerable GitLab instance, resulting in unauthenticated remote code execution.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition before 13.10.3, 13.9.6, and 13.8.8
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Vulnerable GitLab instance · Network access to the target · Ability to craft and upload a malicious DjVu file
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 287 stars
by Al1ex · remote
https://github.com/Al1ex/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a remote command execution vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE. The exploit leverages improper validation of image files passed to a file parser, allowing arbitrary command execution via a crafted multipart form upload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, < 13.9.6, < 13.8.8
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to the GitLab instance's upload endpoint · Network connectivity to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 237 stars
by inspiringz · remote
https://github.com/inspiringz/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, an RCE vulnerability in GitLab affecting versions >=11.9, <13.8.8, >=13.9, <13.9.6, and >=13.10, <13.10.3. The exploit leverages ExifTool's vulnerability to achieve remote code execution via crafted image uploads and out-of-band (OOB) techniques like DNSLog and RequestBin.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (versions >=11.9, <13.8.8, >=13.9, <13.9.6, >=13.10, <13.10.3)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable GitLab instance · Valid user credentials for authentication · Network access to external services (DNSLog, RequestBin)
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 182 stars
by mr-r3bot · remote
https://github.com/mr-r3bot/Gitlab-CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, leveraging ExifTool's DjVu metadata parsing vulnerability to achieve unauthenticated RCE on GitLab versions < 13.10.3. The exploit crafts a malicious DjVu file, uploads it as a JPG, and triggers command execution via eval injection in ExifTool.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab < 13.10.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: djvulibre-bin installed · network access to target GitLab instance
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 86 stars
by XTeam-Wing · poc
https://github.com/XTeam-Wing/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, targeting GitLab's file upload functionality to achieve remote code execution (RCE). The exploit leverages a crafted multipart/form-data request with a malicious payload embedded in an image file to trigger command execution.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab 13.10.2
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target GitLab instance · Target must be running a vulnerable version of GitLab
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 68 stars
by r0eXpeR · remote
https://github.com/r0eXpeR/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in GitLab. The PoC constructs a malicious file upload request with embedded commands, leveraging a CSRF token to bypass protections and achieve RCE.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, < 13.9.6, < 13.8.8
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Target GitLab instance accessible via HTTP/HTTPS · Network connectivity to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 23 stars
by whwlsfb · poc
https://github.com/whwlsfb/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a GitLab RCE vulnerability. The exploit leverages a crafted payload uploaded via the file upload feature to achieve remote code execution, supporting both authenticated and unauthenticated scenarios.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab < 13.10.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the GitLab instance · File upload functionality enabled
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 13 stars
by c0okB · remote
https://github.com/c0okB/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a GitLab RCE vulnerability. The Go-based tool supports multiple attack modes including detection via DNSLog, RCE via Postbin OOB, reverse shell, and file upload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable GitLab instance · Network connectivity to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 12 stars
by keven1z · remote
https://github.com/keven1z/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a command injection vulnerability in GitLab's image file parser. The exploit leverages a maliciously crafted DJVU file to execute arbitrary commands, including reverse shell functionality.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (CE/EE) versions 11.9 to 13.10.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the GitLab instance · Ability to send HTTP requests to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 7 stars
by ZZ-SOCMAP · poc
https://github.com/ZZ-SOCMAP/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a remote code execution vulnerability in GitLab. The exploit leverages a malicious DJVU file upload to trigger command execution via metadata processing.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (versions affected by CVE-2021-22205)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid GitLab session/credentials · Ability to upload files
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 6 stars
by faisalfs10x · poc
https://github.com/faisalfs10x/GitLab-CVE-2021-22205-scanner

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, an ExifTool RCE vulnerability in GitLab. The exploit leverages a malicious DjVu file to achieve remote code execution via a reverse shell payload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (versions affected by CVE-2021-22205)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: djvulibre-bin installed · network connectivity to target · listener setup for reverse shell
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 3 stars
by pizza-power · remote
https://github.com/pizza-power/Golang-CVE-2021-22205-POC

This repository contains a functional Go-based exploit for CVE-2021-22205, which leverages an ExifTool vulnerability in GitLab to achieve remote code execution (RCE). The exploit crafts a malicious image file with embedded commands and uploads it to a vulnerable GitLab instance.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, GitLab CE/EE < 13.9.6, GitLab CE/EE < 13.8.8
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Vulnerable GitLab instance · Network access to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 3 stars
by runsel · remote
https://github.com/runsel/GitLab-CVE-2021-22205-

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, which leverages improper image file validation in GitLab to achieve unauthenticated remote command execution. The exploit crafts a malicious image file with embedded commands and sends it to the GitLab upload endpoint.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, < 13.9.6, < 13.8.8
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the GitLab instance · Target must be running a vulnerable version of GitLab
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 3 stars
by shang159 · poc
https://github.com/shang159/CVE-2021-22205-getshell

This repository provides a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a GitLab RCE vulnerability. It uses crafted DjVu files uploaded via issue attachments to execute arbitrary commands, resulting in a reverse shell.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (tested on 11.10.0)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Access to GitLab issue creation · djvumake tool · Network connectivity for reverse shell
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 2 stars
by findneo · poc
https://github.com/findneo/GitLab-preauth-RCE_CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional bash-based PoC for CVE-2021-22205, a pre-authentication RCE vulnerability in GitLab. The exploit crafts a malicious ExifTool file and uploads it via a POST request to trigger command execution.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (versions affected by CVE-2021-22205)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Target GitLab instance vulnerable to CVE-2021-22205 · Network access to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 1 stars
by NukingDragons · remote
https://github.com/NukingDragons/gitlab-cve-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional bash script that exploits CVE-2021-22205, an arbitrary command execution vulnerability in GitLab. The script crafts a malicious image file with embedded commands and uploads it to a vulnerable GitLab instance, leveraging CSRF tokens and session cookies for authentication bypass.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (versions affected by CVE-2021-22205)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to vulnerable GitLab instance · Ability to send HTTP requests to the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 1 stars
by w0x68y · poc
https://github.com/w0x68y/Gitlab-CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a remote command execution vulnerability in GitLab. The script sends a malicious file upload request with embedded commands to trigger RCE on vulnerable GitLab instances.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (versions affected by CVE-2021-22205)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target GitLab instance · Vulnerable GitLab version
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec SCANNER 1 stars
by DIVD-NL · infoleak
https://github.com/DIVD-NL/GitLab-cve-2021-22205-nse

This repository contains a script to fingerprint GitLab instances for CVE-2021-22205, which is an authentication bypass vulnerability. The script is designed to detect the presence of the vulnerability rather than exploit it.

Classification
Scanner 90%
Attack Type
Auth Bypass
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to the target GitLab instance
MITRE ATT&CK
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
github WORKING POC
by dyeat · pythonpoc
https://github.com/dyeat/cve-reproduction/tree/main/GitLab/GitLab/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, which leverages a malicious image upload to achieve remote code execution (RCE) in GitLab CE/EE via ExifTool. The exploit crafts a multipart form-data request with a malicious image file to trigger arbitrary command execution.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE (versions affected by CVE-2021-22205)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Target URL · Network access to the GitLab instance
devstral-2 · analyzed May 22, 2026 Full analysis →
gitlab STUB
by edwardnguyen329 · poc
https://gitlab.com/edwardnguyen329/cve-2021-22205

The repository contains only a minimal README with the CVE identifier and no additional technical details or exploit code. It is a placeholder with no substantive content.

Classification
Stub 100%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: unknown
No auth needed
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 23, 2026 Full analysis →
gitlab WORKING POC
by MkAnHui · poc
https://gitlab.com/MkAnHui/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a remote command execution vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE. The exploit leverages improper image file validation to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted multipart/form-data upload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, < 13.9.6, < 13.8.8
Auth required
Prerequisites: valid user session (CSRF token required) · network access to target GitLab instance
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 23, 2026 Full analysis →
gitlab WORKING POC
by ahmad4fifz · poc
https://gitlab.com/ahmad4fifz/docker-cve-2021-22205

This repository provides a Docker-based environment to replicate and test CVE-2021-22205, an ExifTool vulnerability in GitLab EE 13.9.5. It includes a pre-configured vulnerable GitLab instance with necessary dependencies and a dummy network interface setup.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab Enterprise Edition 13.9.5
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Docker · Docker Compose · Minimum 4 CPU cores, 8GB RAM, 30GB HDD
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 23, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by ccordeiro · poc
https://github.com/ccordeiro/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a remote command execution vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE. The exploit leverages improper image file validation to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted multipart form upload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, < 13.9.6, < 13.8.8
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid session token (CSRF token) · Access to the target's upload endpoint
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by cc3305 · remote
https://github.com/cc3305/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, which targets a command injection vulnerability in GitLab's ExifTool integration. The exploit uploads a maliciously crafted DjVu file with embedded commands that are executed on the target system.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (multiple versions, including 11.x, 12.x, 13.x, and 14.x)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to the target GitLab instance · ExifTool integration enabled in GitLab
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by devdanqtuan · remote
https://github.com/devdanqtuan/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a remote command execution vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE. The exploit leverages improper image file validation to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted multipart form upload.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, < 13.9.6, < 13.8.8
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid session token (CSRF token) · Access to the upload endpoint
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec STUB
by Hikikan · poc
https://github.com/Hikikan/CVE-2021-22205

The repository contains only a README.md file with the CVE identifier and no functional exploit code or technical details. It is a placeholder with minimal content.

Classification
Stub 100%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: unknown
No auth needed
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by overgrowncarrot1 · remote
https://github.com/overgrowncarrot1/DejaVu-CVE-2021-22205

This script exploits CVE-2021-22205, a GitLab arbitrary file write vulnerability, by uploading a malicious JPEG file containing a reverse shell payload. The exploit uses a crafted file upload to achieve remote code execution (RCE) on the target system.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab (versions affected by CVE-2021-22205)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Target GitLab instance vulnerable to CVE-2021-22205 · Network access to the target · Listener set up on attacker's machine
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by hhhotdrink · remote
https://github.com/hhhotdrink/CVE-2021-22205

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2021-22205, a command injection vulnerability in GitLab. The exploit leverages a crafted DJVU file upload to execute arbitrary commands via DNS exfiltration.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE < 13.10.3, < 13.9.6, < 13.8.8
Auth required
Prerequisites: Valid session token (CSRF token) · Access to the target GitLab instance
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec STUB
by hh-hunter · poc
https://github.com/hh-hunter/cve-2021-22205

The repository contains only Docker Compose files for setting up GitLab instances with vulnerable and patched versions but lacks any exploit code or technical details. It serves as a minimal setup for testing CVE-2021-22205 but does not demonstrate the vulnerability.

Classification
Stub 90%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: GitLab EE 13.9.5
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Docker environment
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC EXCELLENT
by William Bowling, jbaines-r7 · rubypocunix
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/gitlab_exif_rce.rb

This Metasploit module exploits CVE-2021-22204, an unauthenticated remote command injection vulnerability in GitLab via ExifTool. It uploads a malicious JPEG file with embedded Perl code to achieve RCE as the 'git' user.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: GitLab CE/EE (versions before 13.10.3, 13.9.6, 13.8.8)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Network access to vulnerable GitLab instance · ExifTool vulnerability (CVE-2021-22204)
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

Nuclei Templates (2)

GitLab CE/EE Unauthenticated RCE Using ExifTool
CRITICALby pdteam
Shodan: http.title:"GitLab"
GitLab CE/EE - Remote Code Execution
CRITICALby GitLab Red Team
Shodan: http.title:"GitLab" || cpe:"cpe:2.3:a:gitlab:gitlab" || http.title:"gitlab"
FOFA: title="gitlab"

References (6)

Core 6

Scores

CVSS v3 10.0
EPSS 0.9447
EPSS Percentile 100.0%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation active
Automatable yes
Technical Impact total

Details

CISA KEV 2021-11-03
VulnCheck KEV 2021-11-03
InTheWild.io 2021-10-25
ENISA EUVD EUVD-2021-9351
Ransomware Use Confirmed
CWE
CWE-94
Status published
Products (1)
gitlab/gitlab 11.9.0 - 13.8.8 (2 CPE variants)
Published Apr 23, 2021
KEV Added Nov 03, 2021
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026