Docker Hub Flaw Handed Users’ Access Tokens to New Owners When Accounts Became Organisations; Docker Says It Is Fixed

Docker has disclosed a critical flaw in Docker Hub, the service where developers store and share container images. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-105445, meant that when someone turned a personal Docker Hub account into an organisation, that account’s personal access tokens were quietly handed to the person named as the new owner [1]. Docker says it fixed the problem on 30 September 2026 and found no evidence that anyone exploited it [1].

What went wrong

Docker Hub lets users convert a personal account into an organisation. Docker says people often do this because Hub has no other way to move a repository from one account to another [1]. During conversion, the user names an existing Docker Hub account as the new organisation’s owner.

From 26 August 2024, Docker says, conversion also reassigned the old account’s personal access tokens (PATs) to that new owner, without changing or cancelling them [1]. A PAT is like a password that scripts and tools use to log in. So whoever still held one of those tokens could suddenly act as the new owner.

Docker says a reassigned token “acted as the target user at the registry level, meaning an attacker could potentially pull, push, and/or delete images in the target’s repositories and in organizations where the target had access” [1]. Because that includes publishing images under a trusted name, Docker said it treated the flaw as a software supply chain risk and rated it critical. Docker also says the flaw did not give access to the Docker Hub website and could not be used to change a password, email address or two-factor settings, or to take over an account [1].

Timeline

Docker gave these dates and times (US Eastern; BST is five hours ahead) [1]:

• 26 August 2024: the flaw was introduced.
• 30 September 2026, 11:40 a.m. ET (16:40 BST): security researchers reported it through Docker’s disclosure programme.
• 30 September 2026, about 3:10 p.m. ET (20:10 BST): Docker deployed a fix, less than four hours after the report. Conversion no longer transfers tokens.
• 2 October 2026, 5:30 p.m. ET (22:30 BST): Docker emailed exposed users and their organisation owners.
• 8 October 2026, 3:45 p.m. ET (20:45 BST): Docker switched off the transferred tokens, except where owners had asked to keep them.

Docker credits Peter Molnar and Krisztian Hozak of mptrdev.com with finding and reporting the flaw [1].

Was it exploited?

Docker says it examined every push made with a transferred token, about 304,000 in all, and found no evidence the flaw was exploited [1]. BleepingComputer also reported the 304,000 figure from Docker’s advisory [2]. Docker says every one of those pushes went into the converted organisation’s own repositories or the new owner’s own repositories, and that a scan of the highest-risk public images found no malware.

Docker is open about one limit. Its logs show when a token is used, not that it exists, so a token that was never used leaves no trace [1]. That is why Docker treated every transferred token as potentially affected.

What you should do

• If you didn’t get Docker’s email, Docker says you were not exposed and there is nothing to do [1]. The email was sent on 2 October with the subject “Docker Hub Vulnerability Identified & Resolved”.
• Check your tokens anyway. Docker advises reviewing the personal access tokens on your account under Account settings, then Personal access tokens, and revoking any you don’t recognise or no longer use [1].
• Use organisation tokens for shared automation. For automation that belongs to an organisation, Docker recommends organisation access tokens rather than one person’s PAT [1].

Docker also says it will now ask for a user’s consent before naming them as an organisation owner, keep a record of every token ownership change, and check other features that change who owns a credential [1].

Sources

1. Docker (Mark Lechner), “Docker Hub security advisory: personal access tokens transferred during account-to-organization conversions”, 12 October 2026. https://www.docker.com/blog/docker-hub-security-advisory-cve-2026-105445/
2. BleepingComputer (Bill Toulas), “Docker Hub flaw let attackers impersonate users, tamper with images”, 13 October 2026. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/docker-hub-flaw-let-attackers-impersonate-users-tamper-with-images/

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