Gitea: Privilege Escalation via Access Token Scope Escalation in API

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

8.7 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2026-56654: 0.83% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 57.58 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Gitea's API endpoint for creating Personal Access Tokens (POST /users/{username}/tokens) is protected by a middleware (reqBasicOrRevProxyAuth) that is intended to require password-based authentication, preventing a compromised token from being used to mint new ones. However, when a token is passed in the Authorization: Basic <token:x-oauth-basic format, the Basic auth handler validates it and sets AuthedMethod="basic", causing IsBasicAuth=true and fooling the middleware into passing the request. Once past the guard, the token creation handler applies no scope ceiling — it will create a new token with any requested scope regardless of the caller's scope. An attacker with a restricted token (e.g. write:user from a leaked CI secret) can therefore create a fully-privileged all-scoped token without knowing the account password. Data flow Step 1 - Token extracted from Basic auth header When the attacker sends Authorization: Basic base64(<token:x-oauth-basic), parseAuthBasic detects that…

Published by the source

21 Jul 2026, 20:24 UTC

Last modified by the source

21 Jul 2026, 20:24 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:27 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-683j-3ff6-hh2x

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-56654

Advisory: Gitea: Privilege Escalation via Access Token Scope Escalation in API
IDs: CVE-2026-56654, GHSA-683j-3ff6-hh2x
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-56654 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:27 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: code.gitea.io/gitea 1.27.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go code.gitea.io/gitea: affected < 1.27.0; fixed in 1.27.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go code.gitea.io/gitea: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on code.gitea.io/gitea.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-683j-3ff6-hh2x (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-683j-3ff6-hh2x lists affected ranges: Go code.gitea.io/gitea >=0 <1.27.0)

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