High severity · published Oct 6, 2026
CVE-2026-96404
Gitea installer authentication bypass for existing accounts
8.1
CVSS
0.6%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
When Gitea's web installer is reachable against a database that already contains users, such as after `INSTALL_LOCK` has been reset to `false`, submitting the install form with an administrator username matching an existing account issued an authenticated session for that account without verifying its password. If the account is an administrator, the session grants full administrative access, including changing the account's password. Databases with a single user also did not require the reinstall confirmation.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.6% · higher than 48% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
GI
Gitea · Gitea
through 1.27.3 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96404
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-96404
vendor-advisory
https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/security/advisories/GHSA-9h7g-h754-c8x2
patch
https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/39400
release-notes
https://blog.gitea.com/release-of-28.0.0/
release-notes
https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/tag/v28.0.0
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