18 Gitea Vulnerabilities Patched in Version 28.3.0
TL;DR
The Gitea project released version 28.3.0 on November 1, 2026. This major update resolves 18 Gitea vulnerabilities across web routes, API endpoints, and CI tools. These flaws allow stored cross-site scripting, token scope bypasses, and data leaks. Therefore, server admins should deploy the patch immediately to secure their source code repositories.
Why It Matters
Gitea is an open-source, self-hosted Git platform with over 45,000 stars on GitHub. Industry data estimates that more than 100,000 active teams run Gitea to manage code pipelines. Teams rely on it to host internal projects and build code. Consequently, weaknesses in core repository security threaten private software projects and automated build workflows.
Fortunately, project maintainers confirmed that no active exploitation in the wild has occurred. Furthermore, researchers have released no public proof-of-concept exploit code for these issues.
How the Attack Works
This security release addresses flaws across token scope checks, CI runner permissions, and archived repository controls.
Stored XSS in Actions Artifacts
Among these, the most severe issue is CVE-2026-113429, which creates a stored cross-site scripting vector in legacy Actions artifacts. The official Gitea security advisories explain that artifact uploads accepted unchecked headers. In its bulletin, the project notes: “A user who can run an Actions job could upload an artifact that a browser renders as HTML on the Gitea origin when the direct artifact download URL is opened.” As a result, opening a malicious artifact link executes scripts in the victim’s browser session. If an instance administrator opens the link, the attacker can seize full administrative control.
Information Disclosure via System Task Tokens
Meanwhile, CVE-2026-112887 exposes private repository metadata through automated CI task tokens. The advisory notes: “Gitea Actions task tokens authenticate to the REST API as a shared system user with a negative ID, which repository, organization, project and key filters treated as having no owner restriction.” Therefore, any user permitted to trigger a workflow can list every private repository across the server.
Token Scope Bypasses and Runner Hijacking
In addition, several flaws bypass token restrictions. Under CVE-2026-116474, workflow jobs could register GPG keys on system accounts. Consequently, an attacker can make unauthorized commits appear as trusted signatures from the instance itself. Under CVE-2026-116289, public-only access tokens failed to enforce boundaries. An attacker holding restricted tokens could register organization-level runners. Then, they could receive private workflow jobs, repository code, and build secrets. Similarly, under CVE-2026-117635, public-only admin tokens could access administrative API endpoints to create new site administrator accounts.
Furthermore, CVE-2026-119441 allowed public-only tokens to delete private repositories belonging to public organizations. Similarly, CVE-2026-118395 permitted restricted tokens to create unauthorized private repositories from templates. Under CVE-2026-117685, restricted tokens could mount private OCI container blobs into public packages. This step exposes private container layers to anonymous downloaders. Additionally, CVE-2026-119625, CVE-2026-119627, and CVE-2026-118394 allowed restricted tokens to read limited user profiles, hidden organization memberships, and private activity feeds.
Archived Repository and Denial-of-Service Flaws
Other resolved bugs involve archived repository controls and denial-of-service risks. Under CVE-2026-118504 and CVE-2026-116296, the REST API failed to lock archived repositories. This gap allowed unauthorized edits to issues, milestones, and releases. Meanwhile, CVE-2026-117677 allows attackers to exhaust server CPU by uploading unconstrained, highly compressed Helm chart archives. Additional flaws, including CVE-2026-117649, CVE-2026-119533, and CVE-2026-114199, leak private issue dependencies, pull request titles, and activity heatmaps.
Affected Versions
These Gitea vulnerabilities affect installations running Gitea versions prior to 28.3.0.
Patch and Mitigation Steps
Administrators should upgrade to Gitea 28.3.0 right away. Because several flaws allowed tokens to reach restricted endpoints, administrators should also revoke long-lived personal access tokens. In addition, teams should review organization runners and remove unknown build agents. Administrators should also audit repository commit history for unexpected GPG signing keys.
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