CVE-2026-97859

Received Received - Intake

Gitea API Information Disclosure via Missing Permissions Check

Publication date: 2026-10-18

Last updated on: 2026-10-18

Assigner: Gitea Limited

Description

Seven Gitea API routes under `/api/v1/users/{username}` (followers, following, following/{target}, starred, subscriptions, keys and gpg_keys) were registered without the `individualPermsChecker` middleware that enforces the visibility of the target user. An authenticated user could therefore read the followers, following list, starred and watched repositories and public SSH and GPG keys of a user with limited or private visibility, whom they could not otherwise see. The issue was fixed in 1.27.3 and 28.0.0 and disclosed with 28.2.0.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
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Meta Information

Published

2026-10-18

Last Modified

2026-10-18

Generated

2026-10-19

AI Q&A

2026-10-19

EPSS Evaluated

N/A

NVD

CVE-2026-97859

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
Gitea	Gitea	0

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-862	The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability in Gitea allows authenticated users to access private user data through certain API routes. Seven API endpoints under /api/v1/users/{username} were missing proper permission checks, letting users view followers, following lists, starred repositories, subscriptions, and public SSH/GPG keys of users with restricted visibility.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by checking the Gitea version and verifying if it is below 1.27.3 or 28.0.0. Use commands like 'gitea --version' or check the web interface version info. If vulnerable, inspect API responses for user data like followers, following, or keys via authenticated requests to /api/v1/users/{username}/followers, /following, /starred, etc.

Impact Analysis

If you use Gitea, an attacker with an account could exploit this to access private information about other users, such as their connections, repositories, or keys, even if those users set their profiles to private. This could lead to privacy breaches or unauthorized data exposure.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could violate data protection regulations like GDPR or HIPAA by exposing private user data without consent. Organizations using Gitea may face compliance risks, including fines or legal consequences, if user data is improperly accessed due to this flaw.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Gitea to version 1.27.3, 28.0.0, or later to address the vulnerability. Ensure the affected API routes are properly restricted by verifying the individualPermsChecker middleware is applied.

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