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CVE Record

CVE-2026-20736: Gitea Web Attachment Deletion: Cross-Repository Unauthorized Deletion via Missing Repo Ownership Check

Gitea does not properly verify repository context when deleting attachments. A user who previously uploaded an attachment to a repository may be able to delete it after losing access to that repository by making the request through a different repository they can access.

HighCVSS 7.5Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

A Gitea attachment-deletion authorization flaw can let someone who once uploaded a file to a repository delete that attachment after losing access, by routing the request through another repository they can access. The business impact is targeted integrity loss of repository attachments, not data theft or full server compromise according to the supplied sources.

Executive priority

Treat this as a high-priority integrity issue for organizations using Gitea to manage sensitive engineering artifacts. It does not indicate server takeover, but unauthorized deletion of repository attachments can disrupt evidence, release materials, tickets, or project history.

Technical view

Gitea failed to bind attachment deletion authorization to the repository that owns the attachment. The CVE maps to CWE-284 and CVSS 3.1 7.5, with high integrity impact. The bundle points to PR #36320 and v1.25.4 release materials as patch evidence, but the affected version range is not clearly stated.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most relevant to self-hosted Gitea instances where users can upload repository attachments and later lose repository access. The supplied affected-version data is incomplete, so teams should not assume they are unaffected without checking vendor advisory details and their installed Gitea version.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. The described abuse requires a user history involving prior attachment upload and later loss of access, plus access to another repository through which the deletion request can be made.

Researcher notes

Key uncertainty is affected-version scope: the bundle lists version "0" and default unaffected, while also citing a patch PR and v1.25.4 release. Anchor conclusions to the GitHub advisory, PR #36320, and distribution-specific advisories before asserting exposure.

Mitigation direction

  • Review the Gitea advisory and upgrade to a fixed release if applicable.
  • Prioritize Gitea v1.25.4 or later where vendor guidance confirms the fix.
  • Audit repository attachment deletion permissions and administrative access revocations.
  • Check vendor guidance if running packaged Gitea from a Linux distribution.
  • Preserve logs for attachment deletion review during remediation.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory all Gitea instances and record exact versions.
  • Confirm whether the instance version is covered by GHSA-jr6h-pwwp-c8g6.
  • Review logs for attachment deletions by users without current repository access.
  • Verify access-removal workflows revoke repository-scoped attachment actions.
  • Confirm the deployed build includes the PR #36320 fix or vendor equivalent.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
9

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · medium confidence lookup

CWE-284: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup

Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2026-20736 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

2CVSS vectors
5Timeline events
2ADP providers
8Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: yesTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

2 official scores

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N3.93.6CISA-ADP
7.5CVSS 3.1HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N3.93.6redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

7.5High
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-20736Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Made public.

  3. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  4. ADP timelineredhat-SADP

    Reported to Red Hat.

  5. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
cvssV3_1other:ssvc
redhat-SADPgitea: Gitea Web Attachment Deletion: Cross-Repository Unauthorized Deletion via Missing Repo Ownership Check
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-01-22T23:01:29.451Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-01-22T22:01:49.678Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
GiteaGitea Open Source Git Server0unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-284

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-284 · source CWE mapping

Improper Access Control

Improper Access Control represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

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