# CVE-2021-45330: Improper Privilege Management in Gitea

> Attackers can reuse valid server-side sessions after client-side cookie deletion, leading to privilege escalation and account takeover in Gitea.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Feb 2022
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** BIT-gitea-2021-45330, GHSA-pg38-r834-g45j, GO-2022-0982

## What is CVE-2021-45330?

CVE-2021-45330 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Gitea Gitea, published on 9 Feb 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue exsits in Gitea through 1.15.7, which could let a malicious user gain privileges due to client side cookies not being deleted and the session remains valid on the server side for reuse.

Weakness: CWE-459 (Incomplete Cleanup)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-45330?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including code.gitea.io/gitea and gitea. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `code.gitea.io/gitea` | Go | All versions | 1.6.0 |
| `code.gitea.io/gitea` | Go | All versions | 1.6.0 |
| `code.gitea.io/gitea` | Go | All versions | 1.6.0 |
| `gitea` | Bitnami | All versions | 1.15.8 |

Products: Gitea Gitea.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-45330?

Upgrade code.gitea.io/gitea to 1.6.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2021-45330 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-45330 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Gitea Gitea

- [CVE-2026-60004](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-60004/): Gitea Code Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-73278](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-73278/): Gitea WebAuthn bypass during OAuth and OIDC sign-in (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-94205](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-94205/): Gitea fork workflow approval bypass through maintainer-triggered events (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-42968](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-42968/): Gitea vulnerable to Argument Injection (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-45331](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45331/): Reuse of one time passwords allowed in Gitea (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-45330 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-45330 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Gitea Gitea, published on 9 Feb 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-45330 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- code.gitea.io/gitea (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.6.0
- code.gitea.io/gitea (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.6.0
- code.gitea.io/gitea (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.6.0
- gitea (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 1.15.8

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45330/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45330/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-45330
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-45330
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-45330

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45330/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.