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HIGH

CVE-2025-15558

CVE-2025-15558 — Docker Desktop Docker Plugins Uncontrolled Search Path Element Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Docker CLI for Windows searches for plugin binaries in C:\ProgramData\Docker\cli-plugins, a directory that does not exist by default. A low-privileged attacker can create this directory and place malicious CLI plugin binaries (docker-compose.exe, docker-buildx.exe, etc.) that are executed when a victim user opens Docker Desktop or invokes Docker CLI plugin features, and allow privilege-escalation if the docker CLI is executed as a privileged user. This issue affects Docker CLI: through 29.1.5 and Windows binaries acting as a CLI-plugin manager using the github.com/docker/cli/cli-plugins/manager https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/docker/[email protected]+incompatible/cli-plugins/manager package, such as Docker Compose. This issue does not impact non-Windows binaries, and projects not using the plugin-manager code.

Published Updated Sources: cvelistV5, Docker

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.

Exploitation

Unreported

no source claims exploitation

EPSS

0%

chance of exploitation in 30 days

Affects

docker

29 products listed

CVSS base

7.3

HIGH

CISA SSVC assessment

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

CISA

Exploitation

None

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

No

can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Total

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Affected scope

The catalog records vendors and products as separate lists, not pairs, so which product belongs to which vendor is not something this page can say.

Vendors (2)

dockerredhat

Products (29)

docker clicomposeassisted installer for red hat openshift container platform 2builds for red hat openshiftgatekeeper 3kernel module management operator for red hat openshiftmachine deletion remediation operatormulticluster engine for kubernetesmulticluster global hubopenshift pipelinesopenshift serverlessopenshift service mesh 2openshift service mesh 3red hat advanced cluster management for kubernetes 2red hat advanced cluster security 4red hat openshift ai rhoaired hat openshift container platform 4red hat openshift dev spacesred hat openshift for windows containersred hat openshift gitopsred hat openshift virtualization 4red hat openstack platform 16 2red hat openstack platform 17 1red hat openstack platform 18 0red hat quay 3red hat trusted artifact signersecurity profiles operatorzero trust workload identity managerzero trust workload identity manager tech preview

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactSource
7.3CVSS 3.1HIGH——cvelistV5

Weakness & attack patterns

  • CWE-427

Attack patterns reported against this CVE. The ATT&CK techniques below are inferred from its weakness class.

  • T1574.007Hijack Execution Flow: Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable
  • T1574.009Hijack Execution Flow: Path Interception by Unquoted Path
  • T1574.001Hijack Execution Flow: DLL search order hijacking

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.

  • Search application, proxy, and WAF logs for requests touching /docker/cli/cli-plugins/manager, //pkg.go.dev/github.com/docker/[email protected]+incompatible/cli-plugins/manager.

References

6 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

  • dockerevery CVE for this vendor
  • redhatevery CVE for this vendor
  • CWE-427other pages naming this weakness

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.