Docker Hub Flaw Let Attackers Act as Other Users for Two Years

Docker has fixed a critical flaw in Docker Hub, the registry where container images are published and downloaded. The flaw let one user push, pull or delete images as another user. Docker fixed it on September 30 and says it found no evidence that anyone exploited it. The issue is tracked as CVE-2026-105445 and has a CVSS 4.0 score of 9.4. It was open from August 26, 2024, a little over two years. Because Docker fixed it on Docker Hub itself, there is no update for customers to install.

The problem sat in the feature that converts a personal account into an organization. Conversion transferred the account's personal access tokens (PATs), which are used in place of a password in the registry, to the user named as the organization's owner. The token's secret stayed the same, and the person who created it could still use it. An attacker could create a token on an account they controlled, convert that account, and name another user as owner. The token would then work at the registry as that user. According to Docker and the researchers who reported it, the named owner was not asked to confirm or notified.

The access was limited to the registry. It did not reach the Docker Hub web interface, and it could not change a password, email address or two-factor settings, or take over an account. Within the token's permission level, though, it could pull, push or delete images in the owner's repositories and in organizations the owner could access. Docker rated the flaw critical because that access "includes publishing images under a legitimate name."