diff --git a/.github/workflows/golangci-lint.yaml b/.github/workflows/golangci-lint.yaml
index 631bcd7d..6e278a56 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/golangci-lint.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/golangci-lint.yaml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: golangci/golangci-lint-action@v3
         with:
           # Optional: version of golangci-lint to use in form of v1.2 or v1.2.3 or `latest` to use the latest version
-          version: v1.52.2
+          version: v1.54.2
 
           # Optional: working directory, useful for monorepos
           # working-directory: somedir
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bac013ab..c0e51a9a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ TOOLSDIR := $(shell pwd)/hack/tools
 PATH := bin:$(TOOLSDIR)/bin:$(PATH)
 STACKER := $(shell which stacker)
 GOLINTER := $(TOOLSDIR)/bin/golangci-lint
-GOLINTER_VERSION := v1.52.2
+GOLINTER_VERSION := v1.54.2
 NOTATION := $(TOOLSDIR)/bin/notation
 NOTATION_VERSION := 1.0.0
 COSIGN := $(TOOLSDIR)/bin/cosign
diff --git a/golangcilint.yaml b/golangcilint.yaml
index 862c6318..c8ff69cf 100644
--- a/golangcilint.yaml
+++ b/golangcilint.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ run:
 
 linters:
   enable-all: true
-  disable: funlen,gocognit,exhaustivestruct,paralleltest,forbidigo,ireturn,wrapcheck,exhaustive,maintidx,exhaustruct,nosnakecase,interfacer,structcheck,varcheck,deadcode,ifshort,golint,scopelint,maligned,rowserrcheck,sqlclosecheck,revive,musttag
+  disable: funlen,gocognit,exhaustivestruct,paralleltest,forbidigo,ireturn,wrapcheck,exhaustive,maintidx,exhaustruct,nosnakecase,interfacer,structcheck,varcheck,deadcode,ifshort,golint,scopelint,maligned,rowserrcheck,sqlclosecheck,revive,musttag,depguard
 
 linters-settings:
   dupl:
diff --git a/pkg/api/controller.go b/pkg/api/controller.go
index aa362229..e958048d 100644
--- a/pkg/api/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/api/controller.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func NewController(config *config.Config) *Controller {
 func DumpRuntimeParams(log log.Logger) {
 	var rLimit syscall.Rlimit
 
-	evt := log.Info().Int("cpus", runtime.NumCPU())
+	evt := log.Info().Int("cpus", runtime.NumCPU()) //nolint: zerologlint
 
 	err := syscall.Getrlimit(syscall.RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rLimit)
 	if err == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/api/routes.go b/pkg/api/routes.go
index 9272da45..ec93ffdc 100644
--- a/pkg/api/routes.go
+++ b/pkg/api/routes.go
@@ -2111,6 +2111,7 @@ func (rh *RouteHandler) CreateAPIKey(resp http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request
 	expirationDate := time.Time{}
 
 	if payload.ExpirationDate != "" {
+		//nolint: gosmopolitan
 		expirationDate, err = time.ParseInLocation(constants.APIKeyTimeFormat, payload.ExpirationDate, time.Local)
 		if err != nil {
 			resp.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
diff --git a/pkg/api/routes_test.go b/pkg/api/routes_test.go
index 554aff19..4d050dd3 100644
--- a/pkg/api/routes_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/routes_test.go
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ func TestRoutes(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				&mocks.MockedImageStore{
 					GetBlobFn: func(repo string, digest godigest.Digest, mediaType string) (io.ReadCloser, int64, error) {
-						return io.NopCloser(bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(""))), 0, zerr.ErrRepoNotFound
+						return io.NopCloser(bytes.NewBufferString("")), 0, zerr.ErrRepoNotFound
 					},
 				})
 			So(statusCode, ShouldEqual, http.StatusNotFound)
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ func TestRoutes(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				&mocks.MockedImageStore{
 					GetBlobFn: func(repo string, digest godigest.Digest, mediaType string) (io.ReadCloser, int64, error) {
-						return io.NopCloser(bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(""))), 0, zerr.ErrBadBlobDigest
+						return io.NopCloser(bytes.NewBufferString("")), 0, zerr.ErrBadBlobDigest
 					},
 				})
 			So(statusCode, ShouldEqual, http.StatusBadRequest)
diff --git a/pkg/cli/client/search_functions_internal_test.go b/pkg/cli/client/search_functions_internal_test.go
index 582665e5..f8880e7e 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/client/search_functions_internal_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/client/search_functions_internal_test.go
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ func getMockImageSummary() common.ImageSummary {
 func TestUtils(t *testing.T) {
 	Convey("Utils", t, func() {
 		ok := haveSameArgs(field{"query", []struct {
-			Name string "json:\"name\""
+			Name string `json:"name"`
 		}{
 			{Name: "arg1"}, {Name: "arg2"},
 		}}, GQLQuery{
@@ -663,7 +663,7 @@ func TestUtils(t *testing.T) {
 		So(ok, ShouldBeFalse)
 
 		ok = haveSameArgs(field{"query", []struct {
-			Name string "json:\"name\""
+			Name string `json:"name"`
 		}{
 			{Name: "arg1"}, {Name: "arg2"},
 		}}, GQLQuery{
diff --git a/pkg/cli/server/config_reloader_test.go b/pkg/cli/server/config_reloader_test.go
index f22781f1..eb8fdcf7 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/server/config_reloader_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/server/config_reloader_test.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
 
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 		// err = cfgfile.Close()
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
 
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 		// err = cfgfile.Close()
@@ -341,7 +341,7 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
 
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 		os.Args = []string{"cli_test", "serve", cfgfile.Name()}
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
 
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 		// err = cfgfile.Close()
diff --git a/pkg/cli/server/extensions_test.go b/pkg/cli/server/extensions_test.go
index bf2c6a61..c27c9948 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/server/extensions_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/server/extensions_test.go
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ func TestServeExtensions(t *testing.T) {
 		cfgfile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "zot-test*.json")
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		err = cfgfile.Close()
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ func TestServeExtensions(t *testing.T) {
 		cfgfile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "zot-test*.json")
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		err = cfgfile.Close()
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ func testWithMetricsEnabled(cfgContentFormat string) {
 	So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 	defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
-	_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+	_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 	So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 	err = cfgfile.Close()
 	So(err, ShouldBeNil)
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ func TestServeMetricsExtension(t *testing.T) {
 		cfgfile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "zot-test*.json")
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		err = cfgfile.Close()
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
diff --git a/pkg/cli/server/root_test.go b/pkg/cli/server/root_test.go
index 390e4bfb..c97c0277 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/server/root_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/server/root_test.go
@@ -1376,7 +1376,7 @@ func runCLIWithConfig(tempDir string, config string) (string, error) {
 
 	config = fmt.Sprintf(config, tempDir, port, logFile.Name())
 
-	_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(config))
+	_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(config)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/cli/server/stress_test.go b/pkg/cli/server/stress_test.go
index a12113ca..28fe8d3f 100644
--- a/pkg/cli/server/stress_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cli/server/stress_test.go
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ func TestSressTooManyOpenFiles(t *testing.T) {
 		cfgfile, err := os.CreateTemp("", "zot-test*.json")
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
-		_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+		_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 		err = cfgfile.Close()
 		So(err, ShouldBeNil)
diff --git a/pkg/debug/gqlplayground/gqlplayground.go b/pkg/debug/gqlplayground/gqlplayground.go
index 16e69680..e6425252 100644
--- a/pkg/debug/gqlplayground/gqlplayground.go
+++ b/pkg/debug/gqlplayground/gqlplayground.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ func SetupGQLPlaygroundRoutes(router *mux.Router,
 
 	templ, err := template.ParseFS(playgroundHTML, "index.html.tmpl")
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal().Err(err)
+		log.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("")
 	}
 
 	//nolint:lll
diff --git a/pkg/extensions/extension_mgmt.go b/pkg/extensions/extension_mgmt.go
index 0e41e429..e86cdc21 100644
--- a/pkg/extensions/extension_mgmt.go
+++ b/pkg/extensions/extension_mgmt.go
@@ -34,16 +34,16 @@ type OpenIDConfig struct {
 
 type Auth struct {
 	HTPasswd *HTPasswd     `json:"htpasswd,omitempty" mapstructure:"htpasswd"`
-	Bearer   *BearerConfig `json:"bearer,omitempty" mapstructure:"bearer"`
+	Bearer   *BearerConfig `json:"bearer,omitempty"   mapstructure:"bearer"`
 	LDAP     *struct {
 		Address string `json:"address,omitempty" mapstructure:"address"`
-	} `json:"ldap,omitempty" mapstructure:"ldap"`
+	} `json:"ldap,omitempty"   mapstructure:"ldap"`
 	OpenID *OpenIDConfig `json:"openid,omitempty" mapstructure:"openid"`
 }
 
 type StrippedConfig struct {
 	DistSpecVersion string `json:"distSpecVersion" mapstructure:"distSpecVersion"`
-	BinaryType      string `json:"binaryType" mapstructure:"binaryType"`
+	BinaryType      string `json:"binaryType"      mapstructure:"binaryType"`
 	HTTP            struct {
 		Auth *Auth `json:"auth,omitempty" mapstructure:"auth"`
 	} `json:"http" mapstructure:"http"`
diff --git a/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go b/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
index 52b5dcd7..b0519c55 100644
--- a/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
+++ b/pkg/extensions/sync/sync_test.go
@@ -1898,7 +1898,7 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 
 			defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
 
-			_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+			_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 			hotReloader, err := cli.NewHotReloader(dctlr, cfgfile.Name())
@@ -2046,7 +2046,7 @@ func TestConfigReloader(t *testing.T) {
 
 			defer os.Remove(cfgfile.Name()) // clean up
 
-			_, err = cfgfile.Write([]byte(content))
+			_, err = cfgfile.WriteString(content)
 			So(err, ShouldBeNil)
 
 			hotReloader, err := cli.NewHotReloader(dctlr, cfgfile.Name())
diff --git a/pkg/storage/cache/boltdb.go b/pkg/storage/cache/boltdb.go
index f146e0dd..7a816361 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/cache/boltdb.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/cache/boltdb.go
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ func (d *BoltDBDriver) GetBlob(digest godigest.Digest) (string, error) {
 		bucket := root.Bucket([]byte(digest.String()))
 		if bucket != nil {
 			origin := bucket.Bucket([]byte(constants.OriginalBucket))
-			blobPath.WriteString(string(d.getOne(origin)))
+			blobPath.Write(d.getOne(origin))
 
 			return nil
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/storage/local/driver.go b/pkg/storage/local/driver.go
index faef6588..bcc46c12 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/local/driver.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/local/driver.go
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ func (driver *Driver) Link(src, dest string) error {
 
 	/* also update the modtime, so that gc won't remove recently linked blobs
 	otherwise ifBlobOlderThan(gcDelay) will return the modtime of the inode */
-	currentTime := time.Now().Local()
+	currentTime := time.Now().Local() //nolint: gosmopolitan
 	if err := os.Chtimes(dest, currentTime, currentTime); err != nil {
 		return driver.formatErr(err)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/storage/local/local_test.go b/pkg/storage/local/local_test.go
index 571475be..5ee8c301 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/local/local_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/local/local_test.go
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ func FuzzPutBlobChunk(f *testing.F) {
 			t.Error(err)
 		}
 
-		buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(data))
+		buf := bytes.NewBufferString(data)
 		buflen := buf.Len()
 		_, err = imgStore.PutBlobChunk(repoName, uuid, 0, int64(buflen), buf)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ func FuzzPutBlobChunkStreamed(f *testing.F) {
 			t.Error(err)
 		}
 
-		buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(data))
+		buf := bytes.NewBufferString(data)
 		_, err = imgStore.PutBlobChunkStreamed(repoName, uuid, buf)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Error(err)
@@ -1073,7 +1073,7 @@ func FuzzGetOrasReferrers(f *testing.F) {
 			t.Error(err)
 		}
 		digest := godigest.FromBytes([]byte(data))
-		buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(data))
+		buf := bytes.NewBufferString(data)
 		buflen := buf.Len()
 		err = os.WriteFile(path.Join(imgStore.RootDir(), //nolint: gosec
 			"zot-test", "blobs", digest.Algorithm().String(), digest.Encoded()),
diff --git a/pkg/storage/s3/s3_test.go b/pkg/storage/s3/s3_test.go
index a96486dd..381e5098 100644
--- a/pkg/storage/s3/s3_test.go
+++ b/pkg/storage/s3/s3_test.go
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ func TestNegativeCasesObjectsStorage(t *testing.T) {
 			_, _, err = imgStore.PutImageManifest(testImage, "1.0", "application/json", []byte{})
 			So(err, ShouldNotBeNil)
 
-			_, err = imgStore.PutBlobChunkStreamed(testImage, upload, bytes.NewBuffer([]byte(testImage)))
+			_, err = imgStore.PutBlobChunkStreamed(testImage, upload, bytes.NewBufferString(testImage))
 			So(err, ShouldNotBeNil)
 
 			_, _, err = imgStore.FullBlobUpload(testImage, bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{}), "inexistent")
@@ -3848,7 +3848,7 @@ func TestS3DedupeErr(t *testing.T) {
 
 	Convey("Test DeleteBlob() - error on store.Move()", t, func(c C) {
 		tdir := t.TempDir()
-		hash := "7173b809ca12ec5dee4506cd86be934c4596dd234ee82c0662eac04a8c2c71dc"
+		hash := "7173b809ca12ec5dee4506cd86be934c4596dd234ee82c0662eac04a8c2c71dc" // #nosec G101
 
 		digest := godigest.NewDigestFromEncoded(godigest.SHA256, hash)
 
diff --git a/pkg/test/common/fs_test.go b/pkg/test/common/fs_test.go
index 01a0e4fe..5165cf01 100644
--- a/pkg/test/common/fs_test.go
+++ b/pkg/test/common/fs_test.go
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ func TestReadLogFileAndCountStringOccurence(t *testing.T) {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 
-	_, err = logFile.Write([]byte("line1\n line2\n line3 line1 line2\n line1"))
+	_, err = logFile.WriteString("line1\n line2\n line3 line1 line2\n line1")
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}