goharbor/harbor · error · *errors.Error

UNAUTHORIZED

UNAUTHORIZED

Error message

unauthorized

What it means

Error "unauthorized" thrown in goharbor/harbor.

Source

Thrown at src/server/middleware/v2auth/auth.go:57

	authHeader = "Authorization"
)

type reqChecker struct {
	ctl project.Controller
}

func (rc *reqChecker) check(req *http.Request) (string, error) {
	securityCtx, ok := security.FromContext(req.Context())
	if !ok {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("the security context got from request is nil")
	}
	al := accessList(req)
	if len(al) == 0 {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("un-recognized request: %s %s", req.Method, req.URL.Path)
	}
	for _, a := range al {
		if a.target == login && !securityCtx.IsAuthenticated() {
			return getChallenge(req, al), errors.New("unauthorized")
		}
		if a.target == catalog {
			resource := system.NewNamespace().Resource(rbac.ResourceCatalog)
			if !securityCtx.Can(req.Context(), rbac.ActionRead, resource) {
				return getChallenge(req, al), fmt.Errorf("unauthorized to list catalog")
			}
		}
		if a.target == repository && req.Header.Get(authHeader) == "" &&
			(req.Method == http.MethodHead || req.Method == http.MethodGet) { // make sure 401 is returned for CLI HEAD, see #11271
			return getChallenge(req, al), fmt.Errorf("authorize header needed to send HEAD to repository")
		} else if a.target == repository {
			pn := strings.Split(a.name, "/")[0]
			pid, err := rc.projectID(req.Context(), pn)
			if err != nil {
				return "", err
			}
			resource := rbac_project.NewNamespace(pid).Resource(rbac.ResourceRepository)
			if !securityCtx.Can(req.Context(), a.action, resource) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 7b2fd08cc5)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at src/server/middleware/v2auth/auth.go:57 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

AI-assisted analysis of goharbor/harbor@7b2fd08cc5 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a862a3d7900779e0. Report an issue: GitHub.