The vulnerability allows malcontent, a supply‑chain analysis tool, to send Docker registry credentials to an attacker‑controlled token endpoint during an OCI image scan. By using the default Docker credential keychain from google/go‑containerregistry, a malicious registry can include a WWW‑Authenticate header that redirects authentication to an external URL. When malcontent follows this redirect, the credentials it has stored for the registry are transmitted to the attacker, exposing them. This is a direct credential exposure flaw (CWE‑522) with no exploitation of code execution or privilege escalation.

The product affected is Chainguard‑dev’s malcontent. Versions starting at 0.10.0 and continuing through 1.20.2 are vulnerable, as they use default authentication. The fix is introduced in version 1.20.3, which defaults to anonymous pulls and therefore does not send credentials. No other vendors are listed.

The CVSS score of 6.5 indicates moderate risk. The EPSS score of less than 1% shows a low probability of exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog. Exploitation requires the attacker to control or influence a registry’s authentication response and supply a specially crafted OCI image reference to malcontent. Attackers with such access can obtain stored registry credentials, potentially granting further access to protected images or infrastructure.