zot: Bearer authentication maps DELETE to push scope, allowing unauthorized deletion (CVE-2026-61833) | HOL Guard CVE

High · CVSS 8.1CVE-2026-61833GHSA-QG67-7M6V-QG25

zot: Bearer authentication maps DELETE to push scope, allowing unauthorized deletion

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-61833 records a High severity (CVSS 8.1) vulnerability in zot: Bearer authentication maps DELETE to push scope, allowing unauthorized deletion. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps project-zot/zot (generic), zotregistry.dev/zot/v2 (go). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Sep 18, 2026Updated Sep 18, 2026Source checked Sep 18, 2026First seen by HOL Sep 18, 2026Material review Sep 18, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: High · CVSS 8.1
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 2 mapped packages or products
Fix availability: Available

Why this deserves its current priority

CVSS is 8.1. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps project-zot/zot (generic), zotregistry.dev/zot/v2 (go). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
project-zot/zotgeneric	< 2.1.18	Not reported
zotregistry.dev/zot/v2go	<2.1.18	2.1.18

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for project-zot/zot, zotregistry.dev/zot/v2.
Review the reported fix. Update zotregistry.dev/zot/v2 to 2.1.18 if you use the affected versions. Test the change in a non-production environment first.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Sep 18, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Sep 18, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Sep 18, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

zot is a container image and artifact registry based on the Open Container Initiative Distribution Specification. Prior to 2.1.18, the bearer authentication handler in pkg/api/authn.go maps every HTTP method other than GET and HEAD to the push action, so DELETE requests are not checked for the distinct delete permission. Bearer-authenticated requests also bypass the fine-grained DistSpecAuthzHandler path in pkg/api/authz.go, while DeleteManifest and DeleteBlob perform no independent delete-permission check. A remote attacker with a bearer token limited to pull and push actions can therefore delete manifests and blobs within the token's repository scope, making images unavailable and allowing repository history to be altered despite the token lacking delete authorization. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.18.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.