CVE-2026-116289
Gitea public-only token bypass through Actions runner registration
Gitea did not reject personal access tokens restricted to public resources (public-only) on the organization Actions runner registration-token endpoint, and the runner registered with the resulting token was not limited to public repositories. Holding only such a token with write:organization that belongs to an owner of a public organization, an attacker could register an organization-level runner and receive jobs of the organization's private repositories that have Actions enabled, including the workflow content, Actions secrets and variables, and a task token with access to the private repository. The issue widens what the restricted token can reach; it gives nothing beyond what the owner's full account can already do.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
9.1
Gitea public-only token bypass through Actions runner registration
Gitea did not reject personal access tokens restricted to public resources (public-only) on the organization Actions runner registration-token endpoint, and the runner registered with the resulting token was not limited to public repositories. Holding only such a token with write:organization that belongs to an owner of a public organization, an attacker could register an organization-level runner and receive jobs of the organization's private repositories that have Actions enabled, including the workflow content, Actions secrets and variables, and a task token with access to the private repository. The issue widens what the restricted token can reach; it gives nothing beyond what the owner's full account can already do.
- Record
CVE-2026-116289- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-06
EUVDEUVD-2026-114794
9.1
Gitea did not reject personal access tokens restricted to public resources (public-only) on the organization Actions runner registration-token endpoint, and the runner registered with the resulting token was not limited to public repositories. Holding only such a token with write:organization that belongs to an owner of a public organization, an attacker could register an organization-level runner and receive jobs of the organization's private repositories that have Actions enabled, including the workflow content, Actions secrets and variables, and a task token with access to the private repository. The issue widens what the restricted token can reach; it gives nothing beyond what the owner's full account can already do.
- Record
EUVD-2026-114794- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-06
NVD
9.1
Gitea did not reject personal access tokens restricted to public resources (public-only) on the organization Actions runner registration-token endpoint, and the runner registered with the resulting token was not limited to public repositories. Holding only such a token with write:organization that belongs to an owner of a public organization, an attacker could register an organization-level runner and receive jobs of the organization's private repositories that have Actions enabled, including the workflow content, Actions secrets and variables, and a task token with access to the private repository. The issue widens what the restricted token can reach; it gives nothing beyond what the owner's full account can already do.
- Record
CVE-2026-116289- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-06
OSV
9.1
Gitea public-only token bypass through Actions runner registration
Gitea did not reject personal access tokens restricted to public resources (public-only) on the organization Actions runner registration-token endpoint, and the runner registered with the resulting token was not limited to public repositories. Holding only such a token with write:organization that belongs to an owner of a public organization, an attacker could register an organization-level runner and receive jobs of the organization's private repositories that have Actions enabled, including the workflow content, Actions secrets and variables, and a task token with access to the private repository. The issue widens what the restricted token can reach; it gives nothing beyond what the owner's full account can already do.
- Record
CVE-2026-116289- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-863
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| severity | CVE List | |
| facts, severity | EUVD, OSV | |
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-116289 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) in Gitea, published November 1, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.28%, the 20th percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
github.com/go-gitea/gitea/security/advisories/GHSA-qcgm-ggp8-22qc
github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/39690
github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/39853
blog.gitea.com/release-of-28.3.0
github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/tag/v28.3.0
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/116xxx/CVE-2026-116289.json
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-116289