Detect CVE-2026-52806: Gogs RCE via git rebase --exec Argument Injection in PR Merge in Elastic Security
Detects exploitation of CVE-2026-52806, a critical command injection vulnerability (CWE-77) in Gogs versions prior to 0.14.3. An attacker can inject arbitrary shell commands via the git rebase --exec argument during pull request merge operations, leading to remote code execution on the Gogs server. A public PoC is available.
MITRE ATT&CK
- Tactic
- Execution Persistence Lateral Movement
Elastic Detection Query
sequence by host.name with maxspan=30s
[process where event.type == "start"
and (
(process.name == "git" and process.args : "rebase" and process.args : "--exec")
or
(process.parent.name : ("gogs", "gogs.exe") and process.name : ("bash", "sh", "curl", "wget", "nc", "ncat", "python*", "perl"))
)
]
[process where event.type == "start"
and process.parent.name : ("git", "gogs", "gogs.exe")
and process.name : ("bash", "sh", "curl", "wget", "nc", "python*", "perl", "cmd.exe", "powershell.exe")
]EQL sequence detection correlating a git rebase --exec invocation with a subsequent suspicious child process on the same host within 30 seconds, indicating successful command injection exploitation of Gogs.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate git rebase --exec workflows where the exec command is benign and expected
- Developer tooling that wraps git rebase and spawns shell scripts as part of normal operation
- Automated git hooks or post-merge scripts that spawn curl or wget for notifications
Other platforms for CVE-2026-52806
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Simulate git rebase --exec argument injection via crafted PR branch name
Expected signal: Process creation event: git with args [rebase, --exec, id > /tmp/cve_rce_proof.txt, target]; child process creation: sh -c 'id > /tmp/cve_rce_proof.txt'; file creation event at /tmp/cve_rce_proof.txt
- Test 2Gogs suspicious child process simulation — reverse shell via curl
Expected signal: Process creation event showing bash or curl with parent process name 'gogs'; network connection attempt from gogs-named process to 127.0.0.1:9999
- Test 3Persistence via cron injection post-Gogs RCE simulation
Expected signal: Process creation: git rebase --exec with crontab modification command; crontab process invocation; file write to /tmp/cve_persist_marker.txt; audit log entry for crontab modification
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