Docker Hub flaw let users push images as others for two years

Docker has fixed a critical flaw in Docker Hub that for more than two years allowed one user to act as another at the registry level, potentially pushing, pulling or deleting container images under legitimate names. According to BleepingComputer and The Hacker News, the bug, tracked as CVE-2026-105445 and dubbed GhostPat, was rooted in how Docker Hub handled personal access tokens (PATs) when a personal account was converted into an organization. Docker said it found no evidence the flaw was exploited.

What happened

When a user converted their account into an organization and named another user as owner, Docker Hub reassigned the converting account's PATs to that owner without changing the token secrets or asking for consent, BleepingComputer reported. An attacker could abuse this by naming a target as owner, after which the attacker's known token would act as the target. Docker said a reassigned PAT "acted as the target user at the registry level" within the token's scope.

The Hacker News reports that the flaw was introduced on August 26, 2024, and that researchers Peter Molnar and Krisztian Hozak of mptrdev.com reported it. Docker said it deployed a fix to production less than four hours after confirming the report on September 30, 2026. Docker notified affected users and organization owners on October 2, deactivated identified transferred tokens on October 8 unless owners asked to keep them, and published its advisory on October 12.

Technical details

The Hacker News says the issue carries a CVSS 4.0 score of 9.4. Docker treated it as a software supply chain risk because, depending on token scope and the victim's permissions, an attacker could push images to the victim's repositories and to organizations the victim could access. The flaw did not give access to the Docker Hub web interface and did not allow changes to passwords, email addresses or two-factor settings.

Docker said it reviewed about 304,000 pushes made with transferred tokens, all of which went to the converted organization or its named owner, and analyzed high-risk public images it could not attribute, finding no malware or tampering. The Hacker News notes that the advisory does not report results for pulls or deletions.

Who is affected

Docker described the number of affected users as limited but did not give a figure. Users who did not receive Docker's notification should assume they were not impacted, according to BleepingComputer. No client update is needed because the fix was applied on Docker Hub itself.

What to do

According to The Hacker News, users should open Account settings, review their personal access tokens' creation and last-used dates, revoke any token they did not create or no longer use, and check the account switcher for unfamiliar organizations. Organizations should use organization access tokens rather than an individual's PAT for automation, and owners on Team or Business plans can review push activity in activity logs. Docker said it now requires consent before naming someone an organization owner, no longer transfers PATs during conversion and records all token ownership changes.