# CVE-2026-96589: Gitea private repository access retained after rejected transfer

> Attackers retain persistent read access to private repositories after rejecting a transfer, exposing code and metadata without owner notification.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **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-2026-96589, GHSA-xfqq-h54g-92f8, MINI-g8q3-v62p-cp98, MINI-hqr4-5cgc-3h97

## What is CVE-2026-96589?

CVE-2026-96589 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Gitea Gitea, published on 6 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

When a private repository is transferred to a user who lacks access, Gitea grants that recipient temporary read access as a collaborator so they can review the repository. Rejecting or cancelling the transfer did not revoke this collaboration, so the named recipient kept persistent read access to the private repository, including its code, issues, pull requests and wiki, and could clone it. The repository owner was not notified. Transfer-granted access is now removed while collaborations that existed before the transfer are preserved.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), CWE-672 (Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-96589?

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-2026-96589?

Upgrade gitea to 28.0.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-96589 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-96589 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-2026-96589 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-96589 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Gitea Gitea, published on 6 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-96589 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-2026-96589/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96589/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-96589
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96589
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96589

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96589/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.