CVE-2026-20800VulnerabilityPublished 22 Jan 2026

CVE-2026-20800: Gitea Open Source Git Server · Information Exposure

Affects Gitea Open Source Git ServerSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 34% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, 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: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 22 Jan 2026
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 2026-10-25.

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 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
GiteaGitea Open Source Git Server	Affected <=1.25.3	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should: 1) Immediately audit and review access control mechanisms related to notifications in Gitea, ensuring that access permissions are re-validated upon each notification request. 2) Limit the amount of sensitive information included in notifications, such as issue and pull request titles, especially for private repositories. 3) Implement strict monitoring and logging of access revocations and notification API usage to detect potential unauthorized access attempts. 4) Consider temporarily disabling or restricting notification features for private repositories until a patch is available. 5) Engage with the Gitea community or maintainers to track the release of official patches or updates addressing this issue. 6) Educate users about the risk of residual access through notifications and encourage prompt reporting of any suspicious access. 7) If feasible, implement additional access control layers or proxy solutions that enforce permission checks on API responses. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on notification-specific controls and operational practices to reduce exposure.

Description

CVE-2026-20800 is a medium-severity vulnerability in the Gitea Open Source Git Server's notification API, where repository access permissions are not re-validated when returning notification details. This flaw allows users who have had their access to private repositories revoked to still view issue and pull request titles through previously received notifications. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality but does not affect integrity or availability, and it requires the attacker to have had prior access to the repository. No user interaction is needed once access is revoked, and exploitation can be performed remotely with low complexity. There are no known exploits in the wild, and no patches have been released yet. European organizations using Gitea for private repository management should be aware of potential sensitive information exposure risks. Mitigation involves auditing notification access controls, restricting notification content, and monitoring user access revocations closely. Countries with significant open source development communities and high adoption of Gitea, such as Germany, France, and the Netherlands, are more likely to be affected.

Impact

For European organizations, the exposure of issue and pull request titles from private repositories can lead to leakage of sensitive project information, including development plans, security issues, or proprietary features. This can undermine competitive advantage, intellectual property confidentiality, and potentially expose organizations to further targeted attacks if adversaries gain insights into ongoing development activities. While the vulnerability does not allow modification or deletion of data, the confidentiality breach alone can have significant reputational and operational impacts. Organizations in sectors with strict data protection regulations, such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, may face compliance risks if sensitive information is inadvertently exposed. The risk is heightened in collaborative environments where multiple users have varying access levels, and timely revocation of access is critical. Since Gitea is used widely in European open source and enterprise environments, the vulnerability could affect a broad range of organizations, especially those managing private repositories with sensitive content.

Summary

CVE-2026-20800 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting the Gitea Open Source Git Server. The issue arises because the notification API does not re-validate repository access permissions when returning notification details. Specifically, after a user’s access to a private repository is revoked, the system still allows that user to view issue and pull request titles via notifications they had previously received. This means sensitive metadata about private development activities can be exposed to unauthorized users. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (medium severity), with an attack vector of network (remote), low attack complexity, requiring privileges (the user must have had access before), no user interaction, unchanged scope, and high impact on confidentiality only. The flaw does not affect the integrity or availability of the system. No patches or fixes have been published at the time of analysis, and no known exploits are reported in the wild. The vulnerability highlights a common security oversight where access revocation is not consistently enforced across all API endpoints, particularly in notification systems that cache or retain data accessible to users. Organizations relying on Gitea for private code hosting and collaboration should consider this a risk to confidentiality of their project metadata.

CWE-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #20OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Subverting Environment Variable Values (opens in a new tab)
ICMP Echo Request Ping (opens in a new tab)
TCP SYN Scan (opens in a new tab)
Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records (opens in a new tab)
DNS Zone Transfers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 30 Jan 2026, 09:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-200

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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