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High

Gitea installer authentication bypass for existing accounts

Type: advisorySources: OSV

When Gitea's web installer is reachable against a database that already contains users, such as after `INSTALL_LOCK` has been reset to `false`, submitting the install form with an administrator username matching an existing account issued an authenticated session for that account without verifying its password. If the account is an administrator, the session grants full administrative access, including changing the account's password. Databases with a single user also did not require the reinstall confirmation.

Products
Not specified
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
Not specified
CVEs
CVE-2026-96404
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
7 Nov 2026, 10:52 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

Gitea installer authentication bypass for existing accounts

core-osv · Original source

Published 6 Oct 2026, 19:25 UTC

When Gitea's web installer is reachable against a database that already contains users, such as after `INSTALL_LOCK` has been reset to `false`, submitting the install form with an administrator username matching an existing account issued an authenticated session for that account without verifying its password. If the account is an administrator, the session grants full administrative access, including changing the account's password. Databases with a single user also did not require the reinstall confirmation.

osv:CVE-2026-96404
Complete source record
{
  "id": "11c25c7bbadef046242bb7d07c417f22e1b6947b73a369cb08bbee45ce11b6f6",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96404",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "Gitea installer authentication bypass for existing accounts",
    "summary": "When Gitea's web installer is reachable against a database that already contains users, such as after `INSTALL_LOCK` has been reset to `false`, submitting the install form with an administrator username matching an existing account issued an authenticated session for that account without verifying its password. If the account is an administrator, the session grants full administrative access, including changing the account's password. Databases with a single user also did not require the reinstall confirmation.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-96404",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-96404",
      "aliases": [
        "BIT-gitea-2026-96404",
        "CVE-2026-96404",
        "GHSA-9h7g-h754-c8x2"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "15b8a5805adf57c5189602008d38cccfd3c795e0"
                }
              ],
              "database_specific": {
                "extracted_events": [
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:gitea:gitea:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "28.0.0"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "CPE_RANGE"
                  },
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "fixed": "15b8a5805adf57c5189602008d38cccfd3c795e0"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "REFERENCES_TAG",
                    "original_tag": "v28.0.0"
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "versions": [
            "v29.0.0-dev",
            "v1.28.0-dev",
            "v1.27.0-dev",
            "v1.26.0-dev",
            "v1.25.0-dev",
            "v1.24.0-dev",
            "v1.22.0-rc1",
            "v1.23.0-dev",
            "v1.22.0-rc0",
            "v1.21.0-rc0",
            "v1.22.0-dev",
            "v1.20.0-rc0",
            "v1.21.0-dev",
            "v1.20.0-dev",
            "v1.19.0-rc0",
            "v1.18.0-rc0",
            "v1.19.0-dev",
            "v1.18.0-dev",
            "v1.17.0-dev",
            "v1.16.0-rc1",
            "v1.15.0-rc1",
            "v1.16.0-dev",
            "v1.15.0-dev",
            "v1.14.0-dev",
            "v1.13.0-dev",
            "v1.12.0-dev",
            "v1.10.5",
            "v1.11.0-rc1",
            "v1.10.0-rc1",
            "v1.11.0-dev",
            "v1.9.0-rc1",
            "v1.10.0-dev",
            "v1.9.0-dev",
            "v1.7.0-dev",
            "v1.6.0-rc1",
            "v1.6.0-dev",
            "v1.5.0-rc1",
            "v1.5.0-dev",
            "v1.1.0",
            "v1.0.0",
            "v0.9.99"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-96404.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:50.499564498Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://blog.gitea.com/release-of-28.0.0/",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/96xxx/CVE-2026-96404.json",
        "https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/tag/v28.0.0",
        "https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/security/advisories/GHSA-9h7g-h754-c8x2",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96404",
        "https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/39400"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cna_assigner": "Gitea",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/96xxx/CVE-2026-96404.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-96404",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 519054,
  "published_at": "2026-10-06T19:25:28.457+00:00"
}