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With GitLab Self-Managed, your organization patches and secures the GitLab application, its host, and its operating system. With GitLab.com, GitLab operates and maintains the SaaS platform, but you still secure your users, projects, settings, pipelines, secrets, runners, and connected systems. The practical difference is who operates the platform—not whether security work disappears. Neither option is inherently more secure; the outcome depends on configuration, operational practices, and your threat model.
Who patches GitLab—and what does “patching” include?
On a self-managed installation, your administrators plan and install GitLab upgrades. They also maintain the underlying operating system and related software, secure the host, and manage the infrastructure that runs the instance. GitLab publishes releases and a maintenance policy, but publishing a fix does not install it on your server. GitLab’s Secure GitLab guidance explicitly assigns self-managed customers and administrators responsibility for host security and keeping GitLab up to date.
On GitLab.com, GitLab operates the SaaS platform and its underlying service infrastructure. Customers should not describe their work as patching GitLab.com itself. Instead, they manage the security choices and systems under their control, such as identity, permissions, project settings, CI/CD configuration, and customer-operated runners. GitLab’s security FAQ describes GitLab.com as SaaS running on GCP IaaS and other subprocessors.
Responsibilities at a glance
| Security area | GitLab Self-Managed | GitLab.com |
|---|---|---|
| GitLab application updates | Your administrators schedule and install upgrades, following GitLab’s maintenance policy and upgrade-path guidance. | GitLab operates and updates the SaaS platform; customers configure their own organization and projects. |
| Host and operating system | Your organization secures and patches the host, operating system, and related software, and hardens the environment. | GitLab and its infrastructure subprocessors operate the underlying SaaS infrastructure. |
| Users, access, and project settings | Your organization configures authentication, permissions, project visibility, tokens, and security controls. | Your organization still configures identity and access, project visibility, tokens, and security controls. |
| CI/CD, runners, and integrations | You secure the runners and connected systems you operate, as well as pipeline settings and secrets. | You remain responsible for customer-operated runners, connected systems, pipeline settings, and secrets. |
| Incident response | Your administrators must keep the instance current and apply security patch releases as appropriate. | You handle incidents involving your users, projects, configuration, and connected systems; GitLab operates the SaaS service. |
How to plan patches for a self-managed instance
1. Track releases and security notices
Check GitLab’s release and maintenance policy and security announcements, then compare your installed version with the versions maintained under the policy in force. Supported-version lists change, so check the current policy rather than relying on an old version list.
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2. Follow the documented upgrade path
Use GitLab’s upgrade planning guidance before upgrading. Pay particular attention when skipping releases or crossing major versions; an upgrade may require specific intermediate steps rather than a direct jump.
3. Patch the whole environment
Updating GitLab does not update the operating system or related host software for you. Patch those components separately and harden hosts in accordance with their vendors’ guidance, as GitLab recommends in its security documentation.
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4. Maintain runners and connected infrastructure
Review runner configuration, isolation, updates, and network access separately from the GitLab application. Runner jobs execute repository-defined code. A shared, non-ephemeral runner can expose other projects to risk if a job or project is compromised. GitLab’s runner security guidance applies to runner security across offerings.
5. Include updates in response procedures
GitLab’s incident-response guidance directs self-managed administrators to keep installations current and update after security patch releases. Make release monitoring, upgrade decisions, and deployment ownership part of your operating process.
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GitLab operating the service does not determine who should have access to your projects or how your code is built and deployed. Your organization still needs to make and review customer-side security choices, including:
- Identity and access: decide who can sign in and what they can access; review group, project, and token permissions.
- Project exposure: set visibility and other project controls to match the sensitivity of the code and information.
- Repository and pipeline protections: configure controls such as protected branches and review how CI/CD pipelines are allowed to run.
- Secrets and integrations: manage CI/CD secrets and assess the permissions and risks of connected systems.
- Customer-operated infrastructure: secure any runners or other systems your organization operates, including those connected to GitLab.com.
GitLab’s hardening guidance says each deployment and configuration is unique and recommends choosing security settings based on the use case, risk assessment, and environment. It covers both SaaS and self-managed deployments.
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How GitLab’s release policy affects patching
GitLab’s maintenance policy describes monthly scheduled releases and patch releases twice monthly around the monthly release. It recommends running the latest stable release. Under the policy, security fixes are backported to the current stable release and the previous two monthly releases, subject to exceptions; GitLab says high- and critical-severity security issues are always addressed with a patch release. These are policy details, not a guarantee that a self-managed installation receives an update automatically. Administrators remain responsible for choosing and carrying out upgrades, and should consult the live policy and upgrade instructions for current details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does GitLab.com’s assurance replace customer security work?
No. GitLab’s public assurance information lists SOC 2 Type 2 for GitLab.com and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for SaaS subscriptions. Those credentials can inform an organization’s review of the service, but they do not establish that the organization’s own access controls, project visibility, secrets, or pipelines are configured securely. See GitLab’s security and compliance information for current details.
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Which option fits your security responsibilities?
Choose based on who you want to operate the platform and how much infrastructure control your organization needs—not on an assumption that either model is automatically safer.
Quick Recap
- Self-Managed puts application upgrades, host and operating-system maintenance, hardening, and customer-operated infrastructure directly on your team. It may suit organizations that need to operate the platform within infrastructure they control and can support the maintenance workload.
- GitLab.com means GitLab operates the SaaS platform, while your team continues to secure its users, configuration, code workflows, runners, and integrations. It reduces the platform-patching work your administrators perform, but does not remove customer-side security responsibilities.
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