Authenticated image deletion via collapsed bearer scopes
Published Sep 18, 2026 · Updated Sep 18, 2026
Improper authorization in The zot Project zot before 2.1.18 allows remote authenticated users to delete registry manifests and blobs. The bearer handler in pkg/api/authn.go maps DELETE to push, bypasses DistSpecAuthzHandler, and the deletion handlers do not recheck permission. A pull-and-push bearer token within a repository scope is sufficient to remove manifests and blobs, making images unavailable and altering history.
Summary
What happened
Improper authorization in The zot Project zot before 2.1.18 allows remote authenticated users to delete registry manifests and blobs. The bearer handler in pkg/api/authn.go maps DELETE to push, bypasses DistSpecAuthzHandler, and the deletion handlers do not recheck permission. A pull-and-push bearer token within a repository scope is sufficient to remove manifests and blobs, making images unavailable and altering history.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-61833
- Published
- Sep 18, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 18, 2026
- Vendor
- The zot Project
- Product
- zot
- Classifications
- CWE-285, T1485
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 2.1.18
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Public exploit references
- Upstream push-only bearer token deletion proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Get started to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Get started