Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2026-24845 affects Chainguard malcontent when scanning certain OCI image references. A malicious registry could trick the tool into sending Docker registry credentials to an attacker-controlled authentication endpoint. The business risk is credential exposure, potentially enabling unauthorized access to private container registries. The vendor says version 1.20.3 fixes this by using anonymous authentication for OCI pulls by default.
Executive priority
Treat as a timely medium-priority fix for teams using malcontent in container supply-chain workflows. Prioritize internet-facing, CI, or analyst workflows that scan third-party images while holding private registry credentials. The main concern is loss of registry credentials, which can lead to broader supply-chain or data exposure.
Technical view
malcontent versions 0.10.0 through before 1.20.3 use google/go-containerregistry for OCI pulls, which uses the Docker credential keychain by default. A crafted OCI image reference can involve a registry returning a WWW-Authenticate header that redirects token authentication to an attacker-controlled endpoint. This can disclose Docker registry credentials. CVSS is 6.5, with high confidentiality impact and user interaction required.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where malcontent scans untrusted OCI image references and the runtime environment has Docker registry credentials available. CI, security review, and supply-chain scanning workflows are plausible exposure points if they process external or attacker-supplied image references.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not indicate known active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. Exploitation requires malcontent to scan a specially crafted OCI image reference and for credentials to be available through the Docker credential keychain. The impact described is credential disclosure, not code execution.
Researcher notes
Evidence comes from the CVE record and GitHub advisory. The affected range is >=0.10.0 and <1.20.3. The fix changes OCI pulls to default to anonymous authentication. No source in the bundle claims public exploitation or provides broader affected products beyond chainguard-dev malcontent.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade malcontent to version 1.20.3 or later.
- Review vendor advisory for any updated guidance.
- Avoid scanning untrusted OCI image references with privileged registry credentials.
- Use least-privilege registry credentials for scanning workflows.
- Rotate potentially exposed registry credentials if suspicious scans occurred.
Validation and detection
- Inventory malcontent installations and versions.
- Identify workflows scanning OCI image references from untrusted sources.
- Check whether Docker registry credentials are available in those environments.
- Confirm upgraded instances use malcontent 1.20.3 or later.
- Review registry authentication logs for unusual token or access activity.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-522: Credential and account abuse lookup
Authentication and credential weaknesses can make valid-account abuse and credential telemetry useful review starting points. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupContainer behavior lookup
The affected technology mentions containers, so container-specific ATT&CK technique review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-24845 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N2.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/security/advisories/GHSA-9m43-p3cx-w8j5CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/commit/538ed00cdc639d687a4bd1e843a2be0428a3b3e7CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Insufficiently Protected Credentials
Insufficiently Protected Credentials represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.