Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Red Hat Quay and the mirror registry for OpenShift contain a flaw in how they resume interrupted container image uploads. An authenticated user could tamper with data stored mid-upload and cause the Quay server to run attacker-chosen code. Because Quay hosts the images that run across OpenShift clusters, a compromise here could ripple into production workloads that pull from it.
Executive priority
Treat as a priority patch cycle, not an emergency. Quay is a control-plane dependency for OpenShift image supply, so unpatched instances present a credible path from a low-privileged account to registry-server compromise and downstream image tampering. Schedule remediation in the next standard maintenance window and shorten it if the registry is internet-exposed.
Technical view
The Quay upload path serializes intermediate resumable-upload state via Python pickle and stores it in the database (CWE-502, insecure deserialization). An authenticated attacker able to influence that stored blob can trigger arbitrary code execution when Quay deserializes it during a later resume. CVSS 3.1 is 7.1 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H): network-reachable, high complexity, low privileges, user interaction required, full CIA impact on the Quay host.
Likely exposure
Affected products per Red Hat: mirror registry for Red Hat OpenShift (1.x and 2.0) and Red Hat Quay 3.9, 3.10, 3.12, 3.14, 3.15, 3.16, and 3.17 on RHEL 8/9. Any organization running these registry versions with authenticated push access has exposure until the RHSA fixes are applied.
Exploitation context
Not listed in CISA KEV and no public exploitation is cited in the source bundle. Exploitation requires a valid Quay account with upload rights, plus user interaction and a specific race/upload flow, which is why CVSS marks attack complexity high. Red Hat has issued multiple errata (RHSA-2026:19375 through 28441), indicating vendor confirmation and coordinated fixes across supported streams.
Researcher notes
CWE-502 pickle deserialization inside a database-backed resumable-upload state machine is the interesting primitive. The CVSS UI:R and AC:H suggest the vulnerable code path requires a specific multi-step upload sequence rather than a single request. The wide RHSA fan-out across Quay 3.9 through 3.17 and both mirror-registry lines implies a shared internal library. No KEV entry and no public PoC referenced in the bundle as of the 2026-07-01 update.
Mitigation direction
- Apply the Red Hat errata (RHSA-2026:19375, 21017, 22465, 22629, 22840, 23361, 24833, 24853, 28441) matching your Quay or mirror-registry stream.
- Restrict push and upload permissions to trusted service accounts and remove unused robot accounts.
- Place the Quay API behind network controls that limit reachability to CI/CD and cluster nodes.
- Enable and review Quay audit logs for anomalous resumable-upload activity.
- Consult the Red Hat CVE page for any interim mitigation guidance before patching.
- Rotate credentials for any accounts with suspicious upload history.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Quay and mirror-registry deployments and record installed versions against the affected list.
- Confirm the applied RPM or container digest matches the fixed build in the relevant RHSA.
- Review Quay logs for unexpected resumable-upload resume events or 500 errors from the upload handler.
- Audit user and robot accounts that hold repository write scopes.
- Validate that clusters pulling from Quay use image signature or digest pinning where feasible.
- Track Bugzilla RHBZ#2446964 and the Red Hat CVE page for updated guidance.
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-502: Code execution behavior lookup
Code execution and unsafe deserialization weaknesses often justify reviewing execution behavior and process telemetry. 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 lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupDatabase behavior lookup
The CVE wording references database injection or access, so collection and exfiltration 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-2026-32590 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
SSVC decision data
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:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.25.9redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- RHSA-2026:19375CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:21017CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:22465CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:22629CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:22840CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:23361CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:24833CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:24853CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:28441CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-32590CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2446964CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
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.
Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Deserialization of Untrusted Data represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.