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CVE Record

CVE-2026-20897: Gitea Git LFS Lock Deletion Broken Access Control (Cross-Repo IDOR)

Gitea does not properly validate repository ownership when deleting Git LFS locks. A user with write access to one repository may be able to delete LFS locks belonging to other repositories.

CriticalCVSS 9.1Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysiscritical

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Gitea may let a user delete Git LFS locks outside the repository they are authorized to manage. That can disrupt collaborative development workflows and weaken repository integrity controls. The supplied sources rate this as critical, but they do not prove active exploitation.

Executive priority

Treat this as urgent for Gitea environments that use Git LFS locking, especially shared development platforms. The business risk is unauthorized disruption or manipulation of repository coordination controls, not confirmed data theft from the supplied sources.

Technical view

The issue is broken access control in Git LFS lock deletion, described as cross-repository IDOR. Ownership of the target repository is not properly validated before lock removal. The bundle maps this to CWE-284 and CWE-639 and cites Gitea patch pull requests and the v1.25.4 release.

Likely exposure

Organizations running Gitea with Git LFS locking are the primary concern. The supplied affected-version data is incomplete or inconsistent, so exposure should be checked against the Gitea advisory and deployed version inventory.

Exploitation context

The bundle says KEV is false and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. The described impact requires the ability to trigger LFS lock deletion behavior, but the provided CVSS vector lists PR:N while the description mentions write access to one repository.

Researcher notes

Focus review on authorization checks around Git LFS lock deletion and repository ownership validation. Note the source bundle has inconsistent privilege signals and unclear affected-version detail, so confirm facts against the vendor advisory before final scoping.

Mitigation direction

  • Review the Gitea advisory for exact affected and fixed versions.
  • Upgrade applicable Gitea deployments to v1.25.4 or later vendor-fixed guidance.
  • Prioritize instances using Git LFS locking across multiple repositories.
  • Restrict repository write access to trusted users until remediation is complete.
  • Monitor available logs for unexpected Git LFS lock deletions.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory all Gitea deployments and record exact versions.
  • Confirm whether Git LFS locking is enabled or used.
  • Compare deployed versions against the Gitea security advisory.
  • Review available audit logs for unexpected cross-project lock changes.
  • Verify remediation by confirming the patched Gitea version is deployed.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
10

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
cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-639: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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-2026-20897 mapping review

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

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.1 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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
9Source links

SSVC decision data

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

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
9.1CVSS 3.1CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N3.95.2CISA-ADP
9.1CVSS 3.1CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N3.95.2redhat-SADP

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

9.1Critical
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2026-20897Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 Git LFS Lock Deletion Broken Access Control (Cross-Repo IDOR)
other:Red Hat severity ratingcvssV3_1
  • 2026-01-22T23:01:23.773Z: Reported to Red Hat.
  • 2026-01-22T22:01:51.508Z: Made public.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
GiteaGitea Open Source Git Server0unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-284CWE-639

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.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs
CWE-639 · source CWE mapping

Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.

Open CWE intelligenceSame-CWE CVEs