Summary
Gitea Remember-Me Token Theft Not Invalidating Attacker Session
The vulnerability is in the Remember-Me (gitea_incredible) token validation logic, specifically when handling a compromised token (hash mismatch).
The vulnerable function is this one:
Affected Endpoint
POST /user/login (and any endpoint triggering autoSignIn via the Remember-Me cookie).
Description
Gitea implements Remember-Me cookies using a split token design (ID:Hash), citing the Paragonie secure remember-me guide. When a token is used, its Hash is rotated, but the ID remains the same.
If an attacker steals a user's Remember-Me token and uses it to authenticate, the attacker is issued a new rotated token (same ID, new Hash). When the legitimate user later attempts to use their original token, Gitea correctly detects a hash mismatch for the given ID.
According to the referenced Paragonie specification, this indicates a compromised token, and ALL active remember-me sessions for that user MUST be invalidated. However, Gitea's CheckAuthToken function simply returns ErrAuthTokenInvalidHash. The calling code (autoSignIn) catches this error and deletes the victim's local cookie via ctx.DeleteSiteCookie, but fails to delete the compromised token from the database.
As a result, the attacker's active session is never invalidated, and the attacker maintains persistent, indefinite access to the victim's account, entirely defeating the purpose of the split-token security design.
Impact
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-56750? CVE-2026-56750 is a critical-severity security vulnerability in code.gitea.io/gitea (go), affecting versions < 1.27.0. It is fixed in 1.27.0.
- Which versions of code.gitea.io/gitea are affected by CVE-2026-56750? code.gitea.io/gitea (go) versions < 1.27.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-56750? Yes. CVE-2026-56750 is fixed in 1.27.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-56750 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-56750 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-56750 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-56750? Upgrade
code.gitea.io/giteato 1.27.0 or later.