CVE-2025-68939
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Gitea allows attackers to bypass file extension restrictions by manipulating attachment names through the attachment API. Attackers can upload files with normally forbidden extensions, potentially enabling malicious file execution or storage. All Gitea instances running versions before 1.23.0 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Gitea
📦 What is this software?
Gitea by Gitea
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could upload executable files (like .php, .sh) that get executed on the server, leading to remote code execution, data theft, or complete system compromise.
Likely Case
Attackers upload malicious files (like HTML with XSS, malware) that get served to users, enabling client-side attacks, phishing, or malware distribution.
If Mitigated
With proper file validation and execution restrictions, impact is limited to storage of unauthorized file types without execution capability.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires API access, which typically requires authentication. The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit once authenticated.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.23.0
Vendor Advisory: https://blog.gitea.com/release-of-1.23.0/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup your Gitea instance and database. 2. Download Gitea 1.23.0 or later from https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases. 3. Stop the Gitea service. 4. Replace the Gitea binary with the new version. 5. Restart the Gitea service. 6. Verify the version shows 1.23.0 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Attachment API
allTemporarily disable the attachment API endpoint to prevent exploitation
Modify Gitea configuration to remove or restrict attachment API access
Web Application Firewall Rules
allAdd WAF rules to block attachment name manipulation attempts
Add rules to detect and block requests with modified attachment names in API calls
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file upload validation at the reverse proxy/load balancer level
- Restrict attachment API access to trusted users only using authentication and authorization controls
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if Gitea version is below 1.23.0 using the version command or web interfaceCheck Version:
./gitea --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Gitea version is 1.23.0 or higher and test that forbidden file extensions cannot be uploaded via attachment API📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- API requests to attachment endpoints with unusual file extensions
- Failed file upload attempts with normally blocked extensions suddenly succeeding
Network Indicators:
- Unusual spikes in attachment API traffic
- Uploads of files with executable extensions
SIEM Query:
source="gitea.log" AND ("attachment" OR "upload") AND (extension="php" OR extension="sh" OR extension="exe")