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Public proof of concept

CVE-2026-73804

Gitea API token scope escalation through HTTP signatures

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2026-10-14
  • WeaknessCWE-266 · CWE-863

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Gitea allows a token with write:user scope to register an attacker-controlled SSH public key on the token owner's account. API requests signed with the corresponding private key authenticate as that account through HTTP Signature without API token scope information, causing route-level token scope checks to be skipped. This converts a user-scoped token into an unscoped API authentication method while retaining the account's normal role and repository permissions.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2026-10-1415:17CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 18:48 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-73804?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2026-73804?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2026-73804 Red Hat Product Security

    code.gitea.io/gitea: Gitea: Privilege escalation via API token scope bypass

Full record on NVD

Fix

No fix published by the sources we read yet. NVD record

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • NVDCVE recordread 2026-10-23
  • CISA-ADPSSVC decisionpoc2026-10-18
  • OpenCVESSVC decisionpoc—
  • CISA-ADPCVSS 3.18.12026-10-18
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-266, CWE-863read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score0.4 %2026-10-22

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Published
2026-10-14
Last Modified
2026-10-18
NVD status
Deferred

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-73804?

Gitea allows a token with write:user scope to register an attacker-controlled SSH public key on the token owner's account. API requests signed with the corresponding private key authenticate as that account through HTTP Signature without API token scope information, causing route-level token scope checks to be skipped. This converts a user-scoped token into an unscoped API authentication method while retaining the account's normal role and repository permissions.

Is CVE-2026-73804 actively exploited?

A proof-of-concept exploit exists for CVE-2026-73804, but active exploitation has not been confirmed at this time.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-73804?

CVE-2026-73804 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.1 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.

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