Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate to GHES with GitHub App installation
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DeliveryRevoke or delete the installation
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ExploitTrigger global-context authorization fallback
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ExecutionRace revocation timing via SSH push attribution
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PersistCapture victim-scoped ghu_ token
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ImpactReuse token to read/write private repositories out of scope
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Object-level authorization, IDOR prevention
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an authenticated attacker (PR:L) with an existing GitHub App installation whose lifecycle they can manipulate: the attack is triggered specifically by revoking or deleting an installation so that GHES applies its authorization fallback and treats it as a global installation context. The attacker must also win a token-revocation timing window and leverage Git-over-SSH push attribution to capture and reuse a victim-scoped ghu_ token (captured by the CVSS AT:P attack requirement and the high-complexity chaining). Limiting factors: it is not usable by an unauthenticated outsider, it is not automatable per CISA SSVC, it depends on a race condition rather than a deterministic request, and it only yields access to repositories reachable through the abused token's fallback context - all consistent with the near-zero EPSS and absence of known exploitation. |
| Impact | The signals point to a real but constrained, non-commodity risk. CVSS 4.0 base is 7.2 (High) with total technical impact per CISA SSVC, reflecting the high confidentiality and integrity loss (VC:H/VI:H) from reading and writing private repos. However, SSVC also rates Exploitation as 'none' and Automatable as 'no', and EPSS is negligible at 0.01% (2nd percentile), consistent with an attack that requires authentication (PR:L), an attack requirement/precondition (AT:P), and a fragile chain involving a revocation race and SSH push attribution - i.e., not a spray-and-pray bug. There is no CISA KEV listing and no known POC, so this is not evidence of active exploitation. One point to verify: the vendor scored AV:L, yet the described exploitation (reusing a token against the API/Git endpoints and manipulating installation state) reads as a network-reachable operation, so the local attack-vector choice should be confirmed with GitHub. Net: a genuine authorization-boundary defect worth patching on normal enterprise cadence, but not an emergency zero-day-class issue. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who already holds a valid low-privilege account and a GitHub App installation on the GHES instance revokes or deletes that installation and, exploiting the revocation-timing window and SSH push attribution, captures a victim-scoped ghu_ token. Because GHES falls back to a global installation context for the now-revoked installation, the attacker replays the token to read and write private repositories outside the intended scope. No public exploit code is identified, and the chain's timing and preconditions (AT:P, AC-high) make it non-trivial to reproduce reliably. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jul 24, 2026
Improper authorization in GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) lets an authenticated attacker abuse scoped user-to-server (ghu_) tokens to reach private repositories outside their intended GitHub App installation scope, including write access. The root cause is an authorization fallback that treated a revoked or deleted installation as a global installation context; chained with token-revocation timing and SSH push attribution, an attacker can obtain and reuse a victim-scoped token. It affects all GHES releases prior to 3.21 and was reported through the GitHub Bug Bounty program, with no public exploit identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade to the fixed build on your release branch - 3.20.1, 3.19.5, 3.18.8, 3.17.14, 3.16.17, 3.15.21, or 3.14.26 (any release 3.21 or later is also fixed) - per the GitHub Enterprise Server admin release notes (e.g. https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.20/admin/release-notes#3.20.1). Because this is a server-side authorization defect in GHES itself, no client-side configuration change fully mitigates it, so patching is the primary and effectively required control. As interim compensating measures on unpatched instances, consider revoking and rotating GitHub App installation credentials and user-to-server (ghu_) tokens to shrink the pool of reusable victim tokens, auditing GitHub App installation deletion/revocation events and unexpected cross-repository access, and tightening who can install or manage GitHub Apps to limit the authenticated foothold the attack requires; note these steps reduce exposure and aid detection but do not eliminate the underlying fallback flaw, and credential rotation may temporarily disrupt automation that relies on those tokens.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
GitHub Apps issue scoped user-to-server tokens (prefixed ghu_) whose authority is bounded by a specific App installation, which in turn defines which repositories and permissions the token may exercise. This flaw is a CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key / improper authorization) defect in how GHES resolves the installation context for such tokens: when an installation was revoked or deleted, the authorization logic fell back to treating the request as a global installation context rather than denying it, effectively removing the per-installation repository boundary. The exploit also leverages the timing window around token revocation and how Git-over-SSH push operations attribute actions, allowing a victim-scoped token to be captured and replayed against private repositories the attacker should not reach. The CPE data confirms the affected component is github:enterprise_server (self-hosted GHES), with 3.20.0 explicitly enumerated and all prior 3.14-3.20 branches implicated.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N
Authenticated attacker (PR:L) exploits a token-revocation race and SSH attribution (AC:H) over network endpoints (AV:N); crossing installation scope is a scope change (S:C) with high confidentiality/integrity but no availability impact.
Primary rating from GitHub Advisory.
CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionGitHub Advisory
An improper authorization vulnerability in scoped user-to-server (ghu_) token authorization in GitHub Enterprise Server allows an authenticated attacker to access private repositories outside the intended installation scope, which can include write operations, via an authorization fallback that treated a revoked/deleted installation as a global installation context, which could be chained with token revocation timing and SSH push attribution to obtain and reuse a victim-scoped token. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.21 and was fixed in versions 3.20.1, 3.19.5, 3.18.8, 3.17.14, 3.16.17, 3.15.21, and 3.14.26. This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program.
Executive ViewAI
A privilege escalation vulnerability in GitHub Enterprise Server prior to version 3.21 allows authenticated users with scoped GitHub App tokens to bypass intended access controls and reach private repositories outside their authorized scope, including repositories they can modify. Organizations using GHES face exposure to repository compromise, unauthorized code changes, and potential supply chain attacks through attacker-modified source code. The vulnerability requires immediate patching to prevent abuse of the scoped token mechanisms that control third-party application access.
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Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
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EUVD-2026-24552
GHSA-29qm-pmxx-2p86
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB