CVE-2026-97859 Gitea API disclosure of private user social graph, keys and stars
Authenticated users can view private social graph and keys of restricted users due to missing authorization checks in Gitea API routes.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-97859?
CVE-2026-97859 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Gitea, published on 18 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Seven Gitea API routes under `/api/v1/users/{username}` (followers, following, following/{target}, starred, subscriptions, keys and gpg_keys) were registered without the `individualPermsChecker` middleware that enforces the visibility of the target user. An authenticated user could therefore read the followers, following list, starred and watched repositories and public SSH and GPG keys of a user with limited or private visibility, whom they could not otherwise see. The issue was fixed in 1.27.3 and 28.0.0 and disclosed with 28.2.0.
Weakness: CWE-862
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97859?
How do I fix CVE-2026-97859?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-97859 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2026-97859 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97859 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Public exploit code: 3 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-xvfh-qwmh-f92w.