GHSA-3pww-vcvm-3gmj: Gitea: API access token scope enforcement bypass on repository RSS/Atom feed endpoints leaks private repository commit data
Summary
A Gitea personal access token (PAT) restricted to a non-repository scope (e.g. read:issue) can read the commit history of any private repository the token owner can access, via the repository RSS/Atom feed endpoints. The same token is correctly denied (403) on /raw, /media, /archive, and the contents API. It leaks commit SHAs, full commit messages (which frequently contain secrets and internal context), and committer name + email.
Details
Gitea enforces PAT scope on repository-content endpoints via checkDownloadTokenScope() (added in PR #37698, extended to the archive endpoint by the CVE-2026-20706 fix in 1.26.2). The RSS/Atom feed handlers were never included: they (a) opt into PAT auth via webAuth.AllowBasic, (b) serve private-repo content, but (c) never call checkDownloadTokenScope().
Affected handlers (all carry AllowBasic, none call the scope check):
- RenderBranchFeedRSS/Atom - routers/web/feed/render.go (last 10 commits: SHA, title, full message, committer name + email)
- ShowFileFeed - routers/web/feed/file.go (per-file commit history)
- repo activity feed /{owner}/{repo}.rss / .atom
- TagsListFeedRSS/Atom, ReleasesFeedRSS/Atom - routers/web/repo/release.go
Root cause: routers/web/web.go registers the feed routes with webAuth.AllowBasic so a PAT authenticates, but the unit-permission middleware only checks the user's access, not the token's scope. checkDownloadTokenScope (routers/web/repo/download.go and the archive Download in repo.go) exists to close exactly that gap and is absent from the feed handlers. Same class as the recently fixed download/archive bypasses (GHSA-cr4g-f395-h25h / CVE-2026-20706); the feeds are the surface those fixes missed.
PoC
Tested on gitea/gitea:1.26.2-rootless, confirmed present at main HEAD (9608cc2, 2026-06-13).
1. User carol owns private repo carol/priv with a commit (message: "add confidential secret").
2. Create a PAT scoped to issues only, no repository scope:
curl -u carol:PASS -X POST $HOST/api/v1/users/carol
Details
Original advisory: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3pww-vcvm-3gmj
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-277610.36% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 29% of all scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-27761 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
Same CVEs, other sources
How other CERTs, PSIRTs and databases cover the vulnerabilities in this advisory.
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