CVE-2026-20896Gitea Docker image trusts spoofable reverse-proxy headers by default
- 9.8CriticalCVSS base score
- 2.8%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 14% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
Gitea Docker image versions up to and including 1.26.2 use REVERSE_PROXY_TRUSTED_PROXIES=* by default, allowing any source IP to impersonate a user when reverse-proxy authentication headers such as X-WEBAUTH-USER are enabled.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Nuclei template for it. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Show the exploits2
Nuclei templates1 template
- Gitea Docker Image <= 1.26.2 - Reverse Proxy Header Authentication Bypass (Nuclei template) (opens in a new tab)
http/cves/2026/CVE-2026-20896.yamlSeverity critical
References tagged exploit1 reference
- GitHub Security Advisory (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryexploit
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By Gitea
- 4 months later
· 4 months later
Published
- 4 days later
· 4 days later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GiteaCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 2.8% · top 14% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.8.
Affected products
Gitea · Gitea Open Source Git Server
- affected ≤ 1.26.2
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- Gocode.gitea.io/giteaGHSA-f75j-4cw6-rmx4 (opens in a new tab)
References
References4
- GitHub Security Advisory (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryexploit
- GitHub Pull Request #38151 (opens in a new tab)patch
- Gitea v1.26.3 Release (opens in a new tab)release-notes
- Gitea v1.26.4 Release Blog Post (opens in a new tab)release-notes
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-41614 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-f75j-4cw6-rmx4 (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-20896)Record last updated .