Auth bypass in GitHub Enterprise Server
CVE-2026-6736
An authentication bypass vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed an unauthenticated attacker to create a local user account, bypassing the configured external identity provider. When external authentication was enabled, the signup endpoint did not properly enforce the authentication restriction, allowing account creation and session establishment without identity provider validation. The created account was limited to the default base permissions configured on the instance. Exploitation required network access to a GHES instance configured with an external authentication provider. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.21 and was fixed in versions 3.20.2, 3.19.6, 3.18.9, 3.17.15, and 3.16.18.
Vulnerability class: Broken Authentication
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.004 (32.9th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 33rd percentile — 32.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.001
Affected products
- GitHub Enterprise Server — versions 3.16.0, 3.17.0, 3.18.0
- GitHub Enterprise Server
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.16/admin/release-notes (release-notes, Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
- docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.17/admin/release-notes (release-notes, Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
- docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.18/admin/release-notes (release-notes, Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
- docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.19/admin/release-notes (release-notes, Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
- docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.20/admin/release-notes (release-notes, Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-6736?
- CVE-2026-6736 is a medium-severity vulnerability in GitHub Enterprise Server, classified under Missing Authentication for Critical Function. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2026-05-07.
- How severe is CVE-2026-6736?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.