ForgejoApplication

CVE-2023-49946

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.20.5-1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In Forgejo before 1.20.5-1, certain endpoints do not check whether an object belongs to a repository for which permissions are being checked. This allows remote attackers to read private issues, read private pull requests, delete issues, and perform other unauthorized actions.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is a broken access control vulnerability in Forgejo where certain API endpoints fail to validate that requested objects (issues, pull requests) belong to the repository for which permission checks are being performed. Attackers can exploit this to read private issues and pull requests, delete issues, and perform other unauthorized cross-repository actions without proper authorization.

MitigationUpgrade to Forgejo version 1.20.5-1 or later which implements proper repository ownership validation for all affected endpoints.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
ForgejoApplication
Affected:< 1.20.5-1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed Forgejo version
    Log into the Forgejo admin panel and navigate to the Site Administration > System Info page, or run 'git --git-dir=/path/to/git/repo log -1 --format=%s' from the Forgejo installation directory to check the version
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 1.20.5-1
  2. Verify API access is enabled
    Check the Forgejo configuration file (custom/conf/app.ini) for the [api] section and verify ENABLE_SWAGGER is set to true, or attempt a GET request to /api/v1/version
    Affected if The API is enabled and accessible to users
  3. Confirm multi-repository environment
    In the Forgejo admin panel, check the total number of repositories and users. Cross-repository access requires at least two repositories with different owners accessible to the same user
    Affected if There are multiple repositories with different ownership accessible to authenticated users
  4. Check for sensitive issues and pull requests
    Review repository settings to identify any private issues or pull requests that contain sensitive information
    Affected if Private issues or pull requests exist in repositories where unauthorized cross-repo access could expose them

You are affected if your Forgejo version is earlier than 1.20.5-1, the API is enabled, and you have multiple repositories where users could potentially access objects from repositories they do not own.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.20.5-1 or later
Fixed in 1.20.5-1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Forgejo version 1.20.5-1 or later which implements proper repository ownership validation for all affected endpoints.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.20.5-1

  1. Backup your Forgejo installation and data before upgrading
  2. Stop the Forgejo service
  3. Upgrade Forgejo to version 1.20.5-1 or later
  4. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version number
  5. Restart the Forgejo service

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Forgejo Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-49946 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-49946 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data