Critical Gitea Flaw Let Unauthenticated Attackers Read Server Files via Org-Mode Markup

An unauthenticated attacker can read any file the service account can access on Gitea, the self-hosted Git platform, in versions 1.22.1 through 1.27.0. No login, no repository write access. A public repository and crafted Org-mode markup are enough. The flaw is fixed in Gitea 1.27.1. The file-read flaw is tracked as CVE-2026-59774, rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8, and received its

Because the vulnerability was publicly disclosed with technical detail, the risk of exploitation increases sharply until a patch is applied across all affected systems.

Beyond patching, organizations should inventory exposed services, disable unused functionality, and require multi-factor authentication wherever it can be deployed.