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CWE-61Weakness · CWE-61

CVE-2025-68937

CRITICAL · 9.5 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-12-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Forgejo before 13.0.2 allows attackers to write to unintended files, and possibly obtain server shell access, because of mishandling of out-of-repository symlink destinations for template repositories. This is also fixed for 11 LTS in 11.0.7 and later.

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

Forgejo before 13.0.2 and 11.0.7 (LTS) contains a path traversal vulnerability in template repository handling where symlinks pointing outside the repository are not properly validated. Attackers can create or use templates with symlinks that escape the intended directory boundaries, allowing write access to arbitrary files on the server and potentially achieving remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to Forgejo 13.0.2 or later (or 11.0.7+ for LTS branch). If patching is not immediately feasible, disable or restrict template repository functionality until the upgrade can be applied.

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

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
High
Privileges
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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. Identify Forgejo installation and version
    Check the Forgejo version by querying the API endpoint /api/v1/version or inspecting the binary/executable version (forgejo --version). Alternatively, check the installation's version file if available in the installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 13.0.2 or is between 11.0.0 and 11.0.7 (non-LTS versions before 11.0.7, or LTS versions before 11.0.7).
  2. Confirm template repository feature is in use
    Determine whether template repository functionality is enabled or being used on the instance. Check Forgejo admin settings or user-created template repositories via the web UI or API (look for repositories with template sources).
    Affected if Template repository creation or usage is allowed and active on the Forgejo instance.
  3. Inspect template repositories for symlinks
    If you have access to the filesystem hosting Forgejo data, examine the template repository directories (typically under /var/opt/forgejo/gitea/repositories or equivalent data path). Identify any symlinks within these repositories and verify their targets using 'ls -la' or 'readlink -f'.
    Affected if Symlinks in template repositories point to paths outside their intended repository boundaries (e.g., ../../ or absolute paths to system directories).

You are affected if your Forgejo version is below 13.0.2 (or below 11.0.7 LTS) AND template repository functionality is enabled or being used, allowing symlinks to escape repository boundaries.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Forgejo 13.0.2 or later (or 11.0.7+ for LTS branch). If patching is not immediately feasible, disable or restrict template repository functionality until the upgrade can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Forgejo 13.0.2 or later (or 11.0.7+ for 11 LTS branch)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Forgejo version by checking the admin dashboard or running 'forgejo --version'
  2. 2. If running a version before 13.0.2, plan upgrade to version 13.0.2 or later
  3. 3. If running Forgejo 11 LTS (11.x series), upgrade to version 11.0.7 or later
  4. 4. Before upgrading, backup the Forgejo database and repositories
  5. 5. Follow the official Forgejo upgrade documentation for your deployment method (binary, Docker, or package manager)
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the installation is functional and the vulnerability is patched
  7. 7. Review audit logs to check for any exploitation attempts prior to patching
Caveat Standard upgrade risks apply - test in staging first; review release notes for any configuration changes

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2025-68937 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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