Gitea (all versions before 1.26.2) + Forgejo (confirmed) CVE‑2026‑27771
CVE‑2026‑27771 is a recently disclosed high‑severity access control vulnerability affecting the Gitea self‑hosted Git platform.
Overview
- Identifier: CVE‑2026‑27771
- Affected software: Gitea (all versions before 1.26.2) + Forgejo (confirmed)
- Vulnerability type: Authentication/authorization bypass
- Severity: ~CVSS 8.2 (High)
- Disclosed: May 2026
What the vulnerability does
The flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to:
👉 Pull private container images from affected Gitea instances
👉 Without any credentials, account, or token
This happens because Gitea’s container registry:
- Fails to enforce authentication on “private” repositories
- Still serves image data to anonymous API requests
Technical root cause
- Access control logic in the container registry is flawed
- The system does not properly validate repository visibility (private/public)
- Anonymous (“ghost”) users can still access protected endpoints
Attackers can simply:
- Use standard Docker / OCI pull requests
- Query endpoints like
/v2/<repo>/manifests/and/blobs/ - Retrieve images as if they were public
No exploit sophistication required.
Impact
This is serious because container images often contain:
- Source code
- API keys and tokens
- Database credentials
- Internal configs / infrastructure details
Exposure can lead to:
- Data exfiltration
- Credential compromise
- Lateral movement in environments
- Full infrastructure compromise in worst cases
Scope of exposure
- ~31,000+ internet-facing instances affected
- Across 30+ countries
- Present for ~4 years before discovery
Industries impacted include:
- Healthcare
- Aerospace
- Retail
- ISPs
- Enterprise software environments
Exploitation status
- No confirmed widespread active exploitation (as of disclosure)
- Public PoC scripts exist (GitHub / exploit repos)
- Exploit is trivial due to lack of auth requirement
Mitigation / Fix
🔴 Immediate action
- Upgrade to Gitea v1.26.2 or later (patch released May 2026)
🟡 Temporary workaround
If patching is not possible:
[service]REQUIRE_SIGNIN_VIEW = true- Forces authentication for all access
- But breaks anonymous/public access use cases
Key takeaway
CVE‑2026‑27771 is a high-risk, low-complexity vulnerability:
- ✅ No authentication required
- ✅ Easy to exploit remotely
- ❗ Direct exposure of sensitive DevOps artifacts
👉 If you run Gitea with the container registry enabled, patch immediately and assume possible historical exposure.
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