GitLab warns of max severity code execution vulnerability

Key Points:

• GitLab has issued an urgent warning for users to patch a critical vulnerability (CVE-2026-97229) in its CI/CD Regular Expression Compiler that could allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected instances.
• The flaw, discovered by researcher 'joaxcar' and reported via GitLab's HackerOne program, results from an integer overflow in the regular expression handling within pipeline configuration files.
• Fixed versions include GitLab CE/EE 19.2.8, 19.3.4, and 19.4.2; users of earlier versions are strongly advised to upgrade immediately, while GitLab.com and Dedicated customers are already protected.
• This vulnerability adds to a series of recent high-severity GitLab flaws, including a two-factor authentication bypass and a maximum-severity data exposure bug, some of which have been actively exploited and flagged by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
• GitLab’s platform is widely used, with over 30 million registered users and adoption by more than half of Fortune 100 companies, underscoring the critical importance of timely patching.