CVE-2025-68942
📋 TL;DR
This Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Gitea allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the search input box for creating tags and branches. When exploited, these scripts execute in victims' browsers, potentially stealing session cookies or performing unauthorized actions. All Gitea instances running versions before 1.22.2 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Gitea
📦 What is this software?
Gitea by Gitea
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers steal administrator session cookies, gain full control of the Gitea instance, and potentially compromise the entire development infrastructure.
Likely Case
Attackers steal user session cookies to access repositories, modify code, or exfiltrate sensitive source code and credentials.
If Mitigated
Script execution is blocked by Content Security Policy (CSP) or other browser protections, limiting impact to minor UI disruption.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (victim must click a crafted link) but uses standard XSS techniques.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.22.2
Vendor Advisory: https://blog.gitea.com/release-of-1.22.2/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup your Gitea instance and database. 2. Download Gitea 1.22.2 from https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/tag/v1.22.2. 3. Stop the Gitea service. 4. Replace the Gitea binary with the new version. 5. Restart the Gitea service.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Content Security Policy (CSP)
allImplement a strict CSP header to block inline script execution and restrict script sources.
Add 'Content-Security-Policy: script-src 'self'' to web server headers
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable user registration and limit access to trusted users only
- Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with XSS protection rules
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Gitea version via web interface admin panel or run './gitea --version' on server.Check Version:
./gitea --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 1.22.2 or higher and test search input box for script execution.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual search queries containing script tags or JavaScript in access logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with script payloads in query parameters
SIEM Query:
web.access: * AND (url: *search* OR url: *tag* OR url: *branch*) AND (query: *<script>* OR query: *javascript:* OR query: *onerror=*)