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CVE-2026-44848

Portainer: Missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints allows host RCE

9.4 CriticalPublic exploitFix available

Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon. The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.40%Up 0.4 points since May 29, 2026
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 9.4

Portainer: Missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints allows host RCE

Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon. The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.

Record
CVE-2026-44848
CVSS 4.0
9.4 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
Weakness
CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-33064 9.4

Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon. The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.

Record
EUVD-2026-33064
CVSS 4.0
9.4 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-rrmm-9v76-h3p4 9.4

Portainer missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints, which allows host RCE

Summary

Portainer enforces Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) on top of the Docker API. The proxy layer routes incoming Docker API requests to per-resource handlers (containers, images, services, volumes, etc.) that apply authorization checks.

The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon.

The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. Administrators and users without Docker endpoint access are not affected.

A regular user with access to a Docker endpoint can:

  • Pull an arbitrary plugin from any registry via POST /plugins/pull.
  • Grant it the privileges it requests, including CAP_SYS_ADMIN and host-path mounts.
  • Enable the plugin via POST /plugins/{name}/enable, at which point Docker runs the plugin with root privileges on the host.

Docker plugins execute as root on the host and can request arbitrary host capabilities and mounts. Enabling a crafted plugin gives the user access to the host filesystem and equivalent to root on the Docker host.

Severity

Critical — CVSS 9.4 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

CWE-862 — Missing Authorization

Affected Versions

The vulnerability exists in every Portainer release where the Docker API proxy uses the prefix-allowlist routing model — /plugins has never been in the allowlist, and the fall-through path has never applied authorization.

Fixes are included in the next release of each supported branch:

| Branch | First vulnerable | Fixed in | |---------------------|------------------|------------| | 2.33.x (LTS) | 2.33.0 | 2.33.8 | | 2.39.x (LTS) | 2.39.0 | 2.39.2 | | 2.40.x (STS) | 2.40.0 | 2.41.0 |

Portainer LTS branches receive fixes for 6 months plus a 3-month overlap after the next LTS ships. STS releases are supported only until the next STS ships — the 2.40.x STS line ends with the 2.41.0 release. All releases prior to 2.33.0 are end-of-life and will not receive a fix; users on EOL versions should upgrade to a supported LTS branch.

Workarounds

Administrators who cannot immediately upgrade can reduce exposure by temporarily revoking Docker endpoint access for non-admin users via Portainer RBAC until the patched release is deployed. This eliminates the attack surface without disruption for administrators. This does not replace the fix.

Affected Code

// api/http/proxy/factory/docker/transport.go (pre-fix)

var prefixProxyFuncMap = map[string]func(...){
    "build":      ...,
    "configs":    ...,
    "containers": ...,
    "images":     ...,
    "networks":   ...,
    "nodes":      ...,
    "secrets":    ...,
    "services":   ...,
    "swarm":      ...,
    "tasks":      ...,
    "v2":         ...,
    "volumes":    ...,
}

func (transport *Transport) ProxyDockerRequest(request *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
    // ...
    prefix := strings.Split(strings.TrimPrefix(unversionedPath, "/"), "/")[0]

    if proxyFunc := prefixProxyFuncMap[prefix]; proxyFunc != nil {
        return proxyFunc(transport, request, unversionedPath)  // authorized
    }

    return transport.executeDockerRequest(request)  // forwarded without authorization
}

/plugins is not in prefixProxyFuncMap, so requests to plugin endpoints fall through to executeDockerRequest and are forwarded to the Docker daemon without any Portainer-side authorization check.

Impact

An authenticated, non-admin Portainer user with access to any Docker-enabled endpoint can:

  • Install and enable arbitrary Docker plugins from any registry.
  • Execute plugin code with root privileges on the…
Record
GHSA-rrmm-9v76-h3p4
CVSS 4.0
9.4 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 9.4

Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon. The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.

Record
CVE-2026-44848
CVSS 4.0
9.4 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 9.4

Portainer: Missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints allows host RCE

Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon. The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.

Record
CVE-2026-44848
CVSS 4.0
9.4 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
Weakness
CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-rrmm-9v76-h3p4 9.4

Portainer missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints, which allows host RCE

Summary

Portainer enforces Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) on top of the Docker API. The proxy layer routes incoming Docker API requests to per-resource handlers (containers, images, services, volumes, etc.) that apply authorization checks.

The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon.

The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. Administrators and users without Docker endpoint access are not affected.

A regular user with access to a Docker endpoint can:

  • Pull an arbitrary plugin from any registry via POST /plugins/pull.
  • Grant it the privileges it requests, including CAP_SYS_ADMIN and host-path mounts.
  • Enable the plugin via POST /plugins/{name}/enable, at which point Docker runs the plugin with root privileges on the host.

Docker plugins execute as root on the host and can request arbitrary host capabilities and mounts. Enabling a crafted plugin gives the user access to the host filesystem and equivalent to root on the Docker host.

Severity

Critical — CVSS 9.4 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

CWE-862 — Missing Authorization

Affected Versions

The vulnerability exists in every Portainer release where the Docker API proxy uses the prefix-allowlist routing model — /plugins has never been in the allowlist, and the fall-through path has never applied authorization.

Fixes are included in the next release of each supported branch:

| Branch | First vulnerable | Fixed in | |---------------------|------------------|------------| | 2.33.x (LTS) | 2.33.0 | 2.33.8 | | 2.39.x (LTS) | 2.39.0 | 2.39.2 | | 2.40.x (STS) | 2.40.0 | 2.41.0 |

Portainer LTS branches receive fixes for 6 months plus a 3-month overlap after the next LTS ships. STS releases are supported only until the next STS ships — the 2.40.x STS line ends with the 2.41.0 release. All releases prior to 2.33.0 are end-of-life and will not receive a fix; users on EOL versions should upgrade to a supported LTS branch.

Workarounds

Administrators who cannot immediately upgrade can reduce exposure by temporarily revoking Docker endpoint access for non-admin users via Portainer RBAC until the patched release is deployed. This eliminates the attack surface without disruption for administrators. This does not replace the fix.

Affected Code

// api/http/proxy/factory/docker/transport.go (pre-fix)

var prefixProxyFuncMap = map[string]func(...){
    "build":      ...,
    "configs":    ...,
    "containers": ...,
    "images":     ...,
    "networks":   ...,
    "nodes":      ...,
    "secrets":    ...,
    "services":   ...,
    "swarm":      ...,
    "tasks":      ...,
    "v2":         ...,
    "volumes":    ...,
}

func (transport *Transport) ProxyDockerRequest(request *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
    // ...
    prefix := strings.Split(strings.TrimPrefix(unversionedPath, "/"), "/")[0]

    if proxyFunc := prefixProxyFuncMap[prefix]; proxyFunc != nil {
        return proxyFunc(transport, request, unversionedPath)  // authorized
    }

    return transport.executeDockerRequest(request)  // forwarded without authorization
}

/plugins is not in prefixProxyFuncMap, so requests to plugin endpoints fall through to executeDockerRequest and are forwarded to the Docker daemon without any Portainer-side authorization check.

Impact

An authenticated, non-admin Portainer user with access to any Docker-enabled endpoint can:

  • Install and enable arbitrary Docker plugins from any registry.
  • Execute plugin code with root privileges on the…
Record
GHSA-rrmm-9v76-h3p4
CVSS 4.0
9.4 CriticalCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGO-2026-5639 No score

Portainer missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints, which allows host RCE in github.com/portainer/portainer

Portainer missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints, which allows host RCE in github.com/portainer/portainer.

NOTE: The source advisory for this report contains additional versions that could not be automatically mapped to standard Go module versions.

(If this is causing false-positive reports from vulnerability scanners, please suggest an edit to the report.)

The additional affected modules and versions are: github.com/portainer/portainer from v2.33.0 before v2.33.8, from v2.39.0 before v2.39.2, from v2.40.0 before v2.41.0.

Record
GO-2026-5639
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1 No score

Security update for govulncheck-vulndb

This update for govulncheck-vulndb fixes the following issues:

  • Update to version 0.0.20260723T184607 2026-07-23T18:46:07Z (jsc#PED-11136).

Go CVE Numbering Authority IDs added or updated with aliases:

  • GO-2026-4730 CVE-2026-33022 GHSA-cv4x-93xx-wgfj
  • GO-2026-4761 CVE-2026-33211 GHSA-j5q5-j9gm-2w5c
  • GO-2026-5102 CVE-2026-45021 GHSA-3vcp-chfh-f6r2
  • GO-2026-5272 CVE-2026-40938 GHSA-94jr-7pqp-xhcq
  • GO-2026-5486 CVE-2026-40924 GHSA-m2cx-gpqf-qf74
  • GO-2026-5542 CVE-2026-40090 GHSA-pj97-4p9w-gx3q
  • GO-2026-5630 CVE-2026-25542 GHSA-rmx9-2pp3-xhcr
  • GO-2026-5643 CVE-2026-40923 GHSA-rx35-6rhx-7858
  • GO-2026-5675 CVE-2026-41492 GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q
  • GO-2026-5711 CVE-2026-40161 GHSA-wjxp-xrpv-xpff
  • GO-2026-5746 CVE-2026-41567 GHSA-x86f-5xw2-fm2r
  • GO-2026-5749 CVE-2026-41328 GHSA-x92x-px7w-4gx4
  • GO-2026-5837 CVE-2026-44840 GHSA-q2m9-6jp9-c6mc
  • GO-2026-5929 CVE-2026-44342 GHSA-26v7-h57m-gh9m
  • GO-2026-5930 CVE-2026-33655 GHSA-6qcr-qxgr-m7fv
  • GO-2026-5933 GHSA-3g4q-2f67-2gvh
  • GO-2026-5934 GHSA-59qp-cfj3-rp64
  • GO-2026-5935 GHSA-7856-g3gv-9wq8
  • GO-2026-5936 CVE-2026-53552 GHSA-26rh-24rg-j3vv
  • GO-2026-5937 CVE-2026-53508 GHSA-2jcc-mxv7-p3f9
  • GO-2026-5938 CVE-2026-53553 GHSA-4g5x-hcwm-82jw
  • GO-2026-5939 CVE-2026-10517 GHSA-698x-9w2p-7vvp
  • GO-2026-5940 CVE-2026-53572 GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q
  • GO-2026-5941 CVE-2026-53487 GHSA-gvhc-wv3v-7pf8
  • GO-2026-5942 CVE-2026-46600
  • GO-2026-5944 CVE-2026-50197 GHSA-659f-rgp5-w4wf
  • GO-2026-5945 CVE-2026-6815 GHSA-rmxx-v9rj-vpvg
  • GO-2026-5946 CVE-2026-52831 GHSA-v5px-423j-pf7p
  • GO-2026-5947 CVE-2026-53649 GHSA-xqhv-chqm-fhcc
  • GO-2026-5948 CVE-2026-50554 GHSA-588f-fvcv-xhvf
  • GO-2026-5949 CVE-2026-50553 GHSA-rqrh-8wpv-x7hh
  • GO-2026-5950 CVE-2026-53602 GHSA-339v-266x-79xr
  • GO-2026-5951 CVE-2026-10219 GHSA-6jm8-4fhr-5w64
  • GO-2026-5952 CVE-2026-49834 GHSA-9vcr-p3rj-q5q6
  • GO-2026-5953 CVE-2026-9094 GHSA-c9w5-qp6m-m395
  • GO-2026-5956 CVE-2026-55252 GHSA-h5g6-xmh4-hc37
  • GO-2026-5957 CVE-2026-54158 GHSA-5xfx-xj4h-5p7r
  • GO-2026-5958 CVE-2026-54068 GHSA-gcm7-57gf-953c
  • GO-2026-5959 CVE-2026-54072 GHSA-h29v-hj44-q8cv
  • GO-2026-5961 CVE-2026-54069 GHSA-hvr9-72v2-fff3
  • GO-2026-5962 CVE-2026-54088 GHSA-m93h-4hw7-5qcm
  • GO-2026-5963 CVE-2026-54067 GHSA-mvjr-vv3c-w4qv
  • GO-2026-5964 CVE-2026-54066 GHSA-p4m3-mgmm-c664
  • GO-2026-5965 CVE-2026-54070 GHSA-w7cg-whh7-xp28
  • GO-2026-5966 CVE-2026-54089 GHSA-xqp3-jq6g-x3qm
  • GO-2026-5967 CVE-2026-50551 GHSA-56mp-4f3v-fgj2
  • GO-2026-5968 CVE-2026-54174 GHSA-fpg8-7664-jc5q
  • GO-2026-5969 GHSA-g936-7jqj-mwv8
  • GO-2026-5970 CVE-2026-56852
  • GO-2026-5973 CVE-2026-54250 GHSA-jxr7-mqhw-9p98
  • GO-2026-5974 CVE-2026-44300 GHSA-wmj8-9953-vff5
  • GO-2026-5975 CVE-2026-50018 GHSA-42j2-w334-qxw7
  • GO-2026-5976 CVE-2026-50141 GHSA-g7mm-9vx7-jm7h
  • GO-2026-5977 CVE-2026-50013 GHSA-qrh4-p6v4-mrfg
  • GO-2026-5978 CVE-2026-50125 GHSA-qw5r-ppcg-f8rj
  • GO-2026-5979 CVE-2026-50006 GHSA-xrcf-6jh3-ggvx
  • GO-2026-5980 CVE-2026-50158 GHSA-2c7f-fxww-6w6c
  • GO-2026-5981 GHSA-mqxv-9rm6-w8qc
  • GO-2026-5982 GHSA-pqg7-v6wh-3pfp
  • GO-2026-5984 CVE-2026-53604 GHSA-2p2f-px33-4vv5
  • GO-2026-5985 GHSA-7rx3-5wx3-5v76
  • GO-2026-5986 CVE-2026-61699 GHSA-cm26-5974-52h8
  • GO-2026-5987 CVE-2026-55513 GHSA-g4x6-jcvr-9m3g
  • GO-2026-5988 CVE-2026-54628 GHSA-hwrq-8wxh-q4xv
  • GO-2026-5989 CVE-2026-55512 GHSA-m3cx-mwpg-32jg
  • GO-2026-5990 CVE-2026-54629 GHSA-mf78-3rpf-r784
  • GO-2026-5991 CVE-2026-53603 GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq
  • GO-2026-5992 CVE-2026-61549 GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8
  • GO-2026-5996 CVE-2026-54450 GHSA-pph6-vfjv-vpjw
  • GO-2026-5997 CVE-2026-54452 GHSA-xgch-x3mx-cm3c
  • GO-2026-5998 CVE-2026-54495 GHSA-398h-7f66-3h4p
  • GO-2026-5999 CVE-2026-10814 GHSA-jh6h-v6mp-h22v
  • GO-2026-6002 CVE-2026-58196 GHSA-pr64-jmmf-jp54
  • GO-2026-6003 CVE-2026-53714 GHSA-22xc-xg2r-9j7v
  • GO-2026-6004 CVE-2026-52833 GHSA-3v79-m2cg-89ww
  • GO-2026-6005 CVE-2026-53715 GHSA-8fv2-88gg-hm7q
  • GO-2026-6006 CVE-2026-53716 GHSA-cxpq-8v7q-cg56 *…
Record
openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
github.com/portainer/portainer
Go
 2.33.0 up to 2.33.8
2.33.8
github.com/portainer/portainer
Go
 2.39.0 up to 2.39.2
2.39.2
github.com/portainer/portainer
Go
 2.40.0 up to 2.41.0
2.41.0
github.com/portainer/portainer
Go
 All versions None known
govulncheck-vulndb
openSUSE:Leap 16.0
From an advisory covering 1734 CVEs
 before 0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1
0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1

Public exploits

Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.

Public exploits
SourceLinkDate
PoC in GitHubBoreas37/CVE-2026-44848-PoC2026-08-18
PoC in GitHubmnk-works/portainer-cve-2026-44848-checker2026-10-24

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV, PoC in GitHub

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2026-44848 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.4) in Portainer, published May 14, 2026. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.40%, the 34th percentile. Fixed in github.com/portainer/portainer 2.33.8.

References

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Left out here: 1,542 references and the rest of 3 source descriptions. The JSON record has them.

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