# CVE-2026-96580: Gitea Actions memory exhaustion through large static matrices

> An attacker can cause server memory exhaustion and process termination by submitting a pull request with a workflow containing a large static matrix.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 7 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BIT-gitea-2026-96580, GHSA-p3rv-cr5f-9gjh, MINI-f5g5-w7fp-98vj, MINI-p27m-g487-hp2x

## What is CVE-2026-96580?

CVE-2026-96580 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Gitea Gitea, published on 6 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Gitea expanded a workflow's static `strategy.matrix` into its full Cartesian product without a size limit when creating a run, before the fork pull request approval gate applied. A user who can open a pull request from a fork could submit a small workflow file whose matrix expands to a very large number of jobs, consuming server memory and potentially terminating the Gitea process. No runner is required. Static matrices above 256 combinations are now rejected before expansion.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-96580?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including gitea. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `gitea` | Bitnami | All versions | 28.0.0 |

Products: Gitea Gitea.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-96580?

Upgrade gitea to 28.0.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-96580 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-96580 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-2021-45330](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45330/): Improper Privilege Management in Gitea (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-96580 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-96580 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Gitea Gitea, published on 6 Oct 2026. 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-2026-96580 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- gitea (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 28.0.0

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-2026-96580/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96580/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-96580
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96580
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96580

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96580/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.