How severe is CVE-2021-28378?

CVE-2021-28378 has a CVSS score of 5.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-28378?

CVE-2021-28378 affects the following packages: code.gitea.io/gitea (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2021-28378?

Update code.gitea.io/gitea to 1.13.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-28378 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-28378 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for code.gitea.io/gitea, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-28378 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is CVE-2021-28378 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 3 known exploit references for CVE-2021-28378, including 2 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-2021-28378?

CVE-2021-28378 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 8.8%, placing it in the 95th 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. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-28378?

CVE-2021-28378 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). 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.

When was CVE-2021-28378 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-28378 was published on March 15, 2021 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

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2021-28378 — gitea

MEDIUMFix: go-gitea/gitea#14898

CVE-2021-28378 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in code.gitea.io/gitea. 3 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for code.gitea.io/gitea — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Cross-site Scripting in Gitea

Also known asBIT-gitea-2021-28378GHSA-g95p-88p4-76cmGO-2022-0832

Published

Mar 15, 2021

Updated

Aug 7, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

3 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

8.8%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs95th percentile — riskier than 95% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-28378 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

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

Gitea 1.12.x and 1.13.x before 1.13.4 allows XSS via certain issue data in some situations.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`code.gitea.io/gitea`	all versions	1.13.4`go get code.gitea.io/gitea@v1.13.4`

Affected Products

1 product · 2 configurations

Application

giteagitea

≥ 1.13.0 && ≤ 1.12.6

range

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.

Gitea 1.12.x and 1.13.x before 1.13.4 allows XSS via certain issue data …

github.comNVDDec 2021

Gitea 1.12.x and 1.13.x before 1.13.4 allows XSS via certain issue data …

github.comGithubAug 2021

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for code.gitea.io/gitea, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update code.gitea.io/gitea to 1.13.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-28378 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Gitea 1.12.x and 1.13.x before 1.13.4 allows XSS via certain issue data in some situations.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-28378 in your dependencies?

Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.4/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

gitea

7.1/10

Maintained10/10

Code-Review9/10

Branch-Protection3/10

Assessed Oct 5, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Mar 15, 2021

First exploit

Dec 16, 2021

Last updated

Aug 7, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2021-28378

GHSA-g95p-88p4-76cm

BIT-gitea-2021-28378

GO-2022-0832

References

Advisoryblog.gitea.io Advisorynvd.nist.gov Fixgithub.com Webgithub.com Webblog.gitea.io Packagegithub.com Evidencegithub.com

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 7 of 8 other CVEs affecting gitea are rated as high or higher (top: critical).

CVE-2026-58428CVE-2026-58314CVE-2026-22874CVE-2026-59765CVE-2026-27761CVE-2026-58511CVE-2026-58419CVE-2026-56657

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedAug 7, 2026