How severe is CVE-2020-14144?

CVE-2020-14144 has a CVSS score of 7.2/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-14144?

CVE-2020-14144 affects the following packages: code.gitea.io/gitea (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2020-14144?

Update code.gitea.io/gitea to 1.12.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-14144 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-14144 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for code.gitea.io/gitea. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-14144 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2020-14144?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2020-14144 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2020-14144 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 6 known exploit references for CVE-2020-14144, including 5 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-14144?

CVE-2020-14144 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 95.4%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-14144?

CVE-2020-14144 is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2020-14144?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2020-14144, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2020-14144 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-14144 was published on October 16, 2020 and was last updated on August 7, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2020-14144

HIGHFix: go-gitea/gitea#13058

CVE-2020-14144 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) OS Command Injection vulnerability in code.gitea.io/gitea. 6 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2020-14144 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

Arbitrary Code Execution in Gitea

Also known asBIT-gitea-2020-14144GHSA-3h6c-c475-jm7v

Published

Oct 16, 2020

Updated

Aug 7, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

6 known

Exploitation data as of Sep 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

95.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2020-14144 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 368,770 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐹code.gitea.io/gitea

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

The git hook feature in Gitea 1.1.0 through 1.12.5 might allow for authenticated remote code execution in customer environments where the documentation was not understood (e.g., one viewpoint is that the dangerousness of this feature should be documented immediately above the ENABLE_GIT_HOOKS line in the config file). NOTE: The vendor has indicated this is not a vulnerability and states "This is a functionality of the software that is limited to a very limited subset of accounts. If you give someone the privilege to execute arbitrary code on your server, they can execute arbitrary code on your server. We provide very clear warnings to users around this functionality and what it provides.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`code.gitea.io/gitea`	≥ 1.1.0&&< 1.12.6	1.12.6

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.