CVE-2026-103059
Gitea built-in SSH server authentication bypass through key case folding
When Gitea's built-in SSH server is enabled (START_SSH_SERVER = true), the presented public key was looked up with an SQL LIKE comparison of its encoded content, which is case-insensitive on some databases, including the default SQLite. An attacker who can construct a case variant of another user's registered RSA public key for which they can derive the private key could have that key matched to the victim's account and authenticate over SSH as that user. Keys are now looked up by fingerprint.
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
Gitea built-in SSH server authentication bypass through key case folding
When Gitea's built-in SSH server is enabled (START_SSH_SERVER = true), the presented public key was looked up with an SQL LIKE comparison of its encoded content, which is case-insensitive on some databases, including the default SQLite. An attacker who can construct a case variant of another user's registered RSA public key for which they can derive the private key could have that key matched to the victim's account and authenticate over SSH as that user. Keys are now looked up by fingerprint.
- Record
CVE-2026-103059- 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-305
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-93906
When Gitea's built-in SSH server is enabled (START_SSH_SERVER = true), the presented public key was looked up with an SQL LIKE comparison of its encoded content, which is case-insensitive on some databases, including the default SQLite. An attacker who can construct a case variant of another user's registered RSA public key for which they can derive the private key could have that key matched to the victim's account and authenticate over SSH as that user. Keys are now looked up by fingerprint.
- Record
EUVD-2026-93906- 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
- 2026-11-02
NVD
When Gitea's built-in SSH server is enabled (START_SSH_SERVER = true), the presented public key was looked up with an SQL LIKE comparison of its encoded content, which is case-insensitive on some databases, including the default SQLite. An attacker who can construct a case variant of another user's registered RSA public key for which they can derive the private key could have that key matched to the victim's account and authenticate over SSH as that user. Keys are now looked up by fingerprint.
- Record
CVE-2026-103059- 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-305
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Gitea built-in SSH server authentication bypass through key case folding
When Gitea's built-in SSH server is enabled (START_SSH_SERVER = true), the presented public key was looked up with an SQL LIKE comparison of its encoded content, which is case-insensitive on some databases, including the default SQLite. An attacker who can construct a case variant of another user's registered RSA public key for which they can derive the private key could have that key matched to the victim's account and authenticate over SSH as that user. Keys are now looked up by fingerprint.
- Record
CVE-2026-103059- 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
- 2026-11-02
OSVBIT-gitea-2026-103059 No score
Gitea built-in SSH server authentication bypass through key case folding
When Gitea's built-in SSH server is enabled (START_SSH_SERVER = true), the presented public key was looked up with an SQL LIKE comparison of its encoded content, which is case-insensitive on some databases, including the default SQLite. An attacker who can construct a case variant of another user's registered RSA public key for which they can derive the private key could have that key matched to the victim's account and authenticate over SSH as that user. Keys are now looked up by fingerprint.
- Record
BIT-gitea-2026-103059- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
giteaBitnami |
before 28.0.0 | 28.0.0 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, aliases | ||
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-103059 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) in Gitea, published October 6, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.39%, the 33rd percentile. Fixed in gitea 28.0.0.