---
title: "CVE-2020-28991: Improper Access Control in Gitea"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2020-28991/
description: "CVE-2020-28991 (github.com/go-gitea/gitea (Go)): Gitea 0.9.99 through 1.12.x before 1.12.6 does not prevent a git protocol path that specifies a TCP port…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2020-11-24
date_modified: 2024-08-04
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2020-28991"
kev: false
cvss: 9.8
epss: 0.01736
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2020-28991: Improper Access Control in Gitea

**Signal:** Critical and remotely reachable. No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 1.7% , percentile 77: FIRST’s model estimates a 1.7% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 77% of all scored CVEs (moderate). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/go-gitea/gitea (Go) >= 0.9.99, < 1.12.6, fixed in 1.12.6 . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

Gitea 0.9.99 through 1.12.x before 1.12.6 does not prevent a git protocol path that specifies a TCP port number and also contains newlines (with URL encoding) in ParseRemoteAddr in modules/auth/repoform.go.

## Affected packages

- Go `github.com/go-gitea/gitea` >= 0.9.99, < 1.12.6 → fixed: 1.12.6

## Affected products (CVE record)

- n/a n/a: see advisory

## Severity

- GitHub CVSS 3.1: 9.8 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 1.74% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 77.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-r7h7-chh4-5rvm](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-r7h7-chh4-5rvm)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2020-28991](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-28991)
- [NVD entry CVE-2020-28991](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28991)
- [github.com](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/13525)
- [github.com](https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/tag/v1.12.6)

---
Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2020-28991/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt