---
id: CVE-2026-116289
title: Gitea public-only token bypass through Actions runner registration
summary: >-
  Gitea did not reject personal access tokens restricted to public resources
  (`public-only`) on the organization Actions runner registration-token
  endpoint, and the runner registered with the resulting token was not limited
  to public repos…
severity: none
cwe:
  - CWE-863
vendor: Gitea
product: gitea.dev
affected:
  - gitea.dev < 28.3.0
published: '2026-11-01'
updated: '2026-11-01'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-01T09:48:35.376Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-116289'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/security/advisories/GHSA-qcgm-ggp8-22qc'
    label: GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-qcgm-ggp8-22qc
  - url: 'https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/39690'
    label: 'Fix: go-gitea/gitea pull request #39690'
  - url: 'https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/pull/39853'
    label: 'Fix backport to release/v28: go-gitea/gitea pull request #39853'
  - url: 'https://blog.gitea.com/release-of-28.3.0/'
    label: Gitea 28.3.0 release announcement
  - url: 'https://github.com/go-gitea/gitea/releases/tag/v28.3.0'
    label: go-gitea/gitea v28.3.0 release
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00149
epssPercentile: 0.04078
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T18:28:50.702Z'
---

## Overview

Gitea did not reject personal access tokens restricted to public resources (`public-only`) on the organization Actions runner registration-token endpoint, and the runner registered with the resulting token was not limited to public repositories. Holding only such a token with `write:organization` that belongs to an owner of a public organization, an attacker could register an organization-level runner and receive jobs of the organization's private repositories that have Actions enabled, including the workflow content, Actions secrets and variables, and a task token with access to the private repository. The issue widens what the restricted token can reach; it gives nothing beyond what the owner's full account can already do.

## Affected

- `gitea.dev < 28.3.0`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.