VulnerabilityPublished 15 Jul 2025

CVE-2025-6981: GitHub Enterprise Server · Incorrect Authorization

Affects GitHub Enterprise ServerSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium · fixed in 3.14.15 : update GitHub Enterprise Server when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 23% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.14.15

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: Low
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker requires privileges that provide basic capabilities that are typically limited to settings and resources owned by a single low-privileged user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges has the ability to access only non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the Subsequent System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHub Enterprise Server	Affected 3.14.0 – 3.17.0 4 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately verify whether the Contractors API feature is enabled in their GitHub Enterprise Server deployments. If enabled, they must prioritize upgrading to patched versions 3.14.15, 3.15.10, 3.16.6, or 3.17.3 or later to remediate the vulnerability. In addition, organizations should audit contractor accounts and their access permissions to ensure no excessive privileges are granted. Implement strict access control policies and monitor repository access logs for unusual read activity, especially from contractor accounts. Employ network segmentation and zero-trust principles to limit access scope for contractors. If upgrading is not immediately feasible, consider disabling the Contractors API feature temporarily to mitigate risk. Regularly review GitHub Enterprise Server configurations and apply security updates promptly. Finally, conduct security awareness training for administrators and contractors about the risks of unauthorized access and the importance of credential security.

Description

An incorrect authorization vulnerability allowed unauthorized read access to the contents of internal repositories for contractor accounts when the Contractors API feature was enabled. The Contractors API is a rarely-enabled feature in private preview. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.18 and was fixed in versions 3.14.15, 3.15.10, 3.16.6 and 3.17.3

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-6981 can be significant, especially for those relying on GitHub Enterprise Server to manage internal software development and collaboration. Unauthorized read access to internal repositories could lead to exposure of intellectual property, sensitive business logic, or confidential data embedded in codebases. This exposure risks competitive disadvantage, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR concerns if personal data is embedded in repositories), and potential facilitation of further attacks by adversaries leveraging leaked information. Since the vulnerability requires only low privileges and no user interaction, an attacker with contractor-level access could exploit this flaw remotely over the network, increasing the risk of insider threats or compromised contractor accounts being leveraged. Although the Contractors API is rarely enabled, organizations that do use this feature must consider the risk of unauthorized data disclosure. The medium severity rating suggests that while the vulnerability is not critical, the confidentiality impact and ease of exploitation warrant prompt remediation to prevent data leakage and maintain trust in software supply chains.

CWE-863Incorrect Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #17OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Jul 2025, 01:38 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-863

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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