Distribution's tag deletion bypasses storage.delete.enabled configuration

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

6.3 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2026-41888: 0.29% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 22.10 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary Tag deletion via the DELETE /v2/<name/manifests/<tag endpoint bypasses the storage.delete.enabled: false configuration, allowing any API client to remove tags from repositories even when the operator has explicitly disabled deletion. Details When storage.delete.enabled is configured to false, digest-based manifest deletion is correctly rejected by the guard in registry/storage/linkedblobstore.go:212-215. However, tag deletion takes a separate code path that never checks this setting: In registry/handlers/manifests.go:439-453, DeleteManifest detects a tag reference, calls tagService.Untag(), returns, never consulting registry.deleteEnabled. In turn, tagStore.Untag() calls the storage driver directly to delete the tag path without checking whether deletes are enabled. PoC Using a paired down Distribution configuration that explicitly disables deletes, such as this one, stored as config.yaml: Start a local Distribution, mounting in the above configuration from the current…

Published by the source

4 May 2026, 20:48 UTC

Last modified by the source

14 May 2026, 20:53 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:22 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-6pjf-3r9x-m592

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-41888

Advisory: Distribution's tag deletion bypasses `storage.delete.enabled` configuration
IDs: CVE-2026-41888, GHSA-6pjf-3r9x-m592
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-41888 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:22 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.3)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Partial vendor fix; fixed versions by package: github.com/distribution/distribution/v3 3.1.1. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/distribution/distribution: affected <= 2.8.3
- Go github.com/distribution/distribution/v3: affected < 3.1.1; fixed in 3.1.1

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/distribution/distribution: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/distribution/distribution/v3: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/distribution/distribution, github.com/distribution/distribution/v3.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-6pjf-3r9x-m592 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-6pjf-3r9x-m592 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/distribution/distribution/v3 >=0 =0 <=2.8.3)

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