What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-9164?

CVE-2025-9164 has a CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.8 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/S:P/AU:Y/R:U/V:C. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.1%.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2025-9164?

Within 24 hours, inventory all Windows endpoints running Docker Desktop versions through 4.48.0, identify pending installs or upgrades, and instruct users and IT staff not to run Docker Desktop installers or upgraders from user-writable locations; if an install or upgrade is unavoidable, perform it only from trusted admin-controlled media after clearing the user's Downloads folder and verifying no unexpected DLLs are present. Within 7 days, enforce application control (WDAC/AppLocker) to block unsigned or untrusted DLLs from being loaded from user-writable paths such as Downloads, restrict Docker Desktop installation and upgrade rights to IT-managed deployment, and monitor Windows endpoints for suspicious DLL creation in Downloads and for Docker Desktop Installer.exe loading events. Within 30 days, deploy a vendor-released patch for Docker Desktop for Windows as soon as it is available, and if no fix is released, maintain the application-control and least-privilege mitigations, revalidate affected version inventory, and consider deferring or centrally controlling Docker Desktop upgrades until a fixed release is confirmed.

Docker Desktop CVE-2025-9164

HIGH

Uncontrolled Search Path Element (CWE-427)

2025-10-27 security@docker.com

Windows Privilege Escalation Docker

8.8

CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: docker

View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

Access

Gain low-privileged local access
Delivery

Plant malicious DLL in Downloads folder
Exploit

Installer loads DLL via insecure search order
Execution

Code executes in elevated install context
Impact

Escalate to SYSTEM-level privileges

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-427 OWASP Top 10:2025 A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures ASVS 5.0 V13 - Configuration Search path element control
Exploitation Conditions	Requires local, interactive low-privileged access to a Windows host (PR:L) with write access to the user's Downloads folder, plus execution of the Docker Desktop Installer.exe (any version through 4.48.0), which resolves required DLLs from Downloads before system directories. Exploitation is limited by several factors: it is local-only (AV:L, not remotely reachable), high complexity (AC:H) with a specific attack requirement (AT:P) meaning the vulnerable installer must actually be run (e.g., during an install or upgrade window) while the malicious DLL is in place, and it does not affect already-installed/running Docker Desktop - only the installer execution path. It is also confined to Windows deployments.
Impact	Signals are mostly consistent and point to a genuine but condition-bound local privilege-escalation issue rather than a mass-exploitation emergency. The only CVSS vector supplied is a CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N with VC:H/VI:H/VA:H and subsequent-system SC:H/SI:H/SA:H), which confirms local attack vector, high complexity, a present attack requirement, and that an already-authenticated low-privileged local user (PR:L) is required - this is NOT remote and NOT unauthenticated, so the 8.8 score is driven by the high impact (full compromise of the elevated install context) rather than by easy reachability. EPSS is very low (0.11%, 1st percentile), there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit code is referenced, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation. The low EPSS is coherent with a local-only, high-complexity, user-present flaw and does not conflict with the high CVSS. No SSVC decision data was provided in the input. Net: this is a real hardening priority for Windows developer endpoints where Docker Desktop is installed/upgraded, but it is a lower-urgency, non-internet-facing issue, not a drop-everything remote vulnerability. Note the input provides only a CVSS 4.0 vector (no CVSS 3.1), and the sole reference is a generic Docker release-notes page rather than a dedicated advisory - fixed-version detail should be verified against that page.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	A low-privileged local user on a Windows machine plants a malicious DLL matching a name the Docker Desktop Installer.exe loads, in the user's Downloads folder. When the installer (version through 4.48.0) is run - typically with elevated/administrative privileges during install or upgrade - it resolves that DLL from Downloads before system directories and loads the attacker's code in the elevated context, yielding privilege escalation. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, and the high attack complexity means the installer must actually be executed for the chain to succeed.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).

No patch listed yet 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 08, 2026

Local privilege escalation on Windows hosts running Docker Desktop through 4.48.0 is possible because Installer.exe resolves required DLLs from the user's Downloads folder ahead of the protected system directories, allowing an attacker who can place a malicious DLL there to have it loaded by the installer (CWE-427, insecure DLL search order). The issue requires local, low-privileged access (CVSS vector PR:L) with write access to the user's Downloads folder, plus execution of the vulnerable installer, typically during an install or upgrade; it does not affect already-installed or running Docker Desktop and is confined to Windows. Exploitation is condition-bound - local-only (AV:L), high complexity (AC:H), with a specific attack precondition (AT:P) that the installer must actually be run while the malicious DLL is staged - and there is no confirmed actively exploited status (not in CISA KEV) and no public exploit identified at time of analysis; EPSS is very low at 0.11% (1st percentile), so this is a genuine but narrow privilege-escalation risk rather than a mass-exploitation emergency.

RemediationAI

Update Docker Desktop for Windows to a release newer than 4.48.0, which falls outside the affected range stated by the vendor, and verify the fix details on the Docker Desktop release notes page (https://docs.docker.com/desktop/release-notes/); no exact patched version number is independently confirmed in the supplied data, so treat the advisory as the authoritative source. Until upgrading, the most effective compensating control is to keep the installer out of any directory a low-privileged user can write to: download or copy Installer.exe into a protected, administrator-only path (for example a subfolder under Program Files or an ACL-restricted staging directory) and run it from there, rather than executing it directly from the user's Downloads folder - the trade-off is a slightly more manual deployment workflow. Complement this by ensuring installation is performed only by administrators with elevation prompts visible, so a low-privileged user cannot trigger the installer's elevated DLL load at a time of their choosing; note that this does not remove the search-order flaw if the installer is still launched from a user-writable location. Deploying application control (AppLocker/WDAC) to block unsigned or untrusted DLLs from loading out of user-writable directories provides durable protection but requires signature-management overhead and may break legitimate tooling. Monitoring for DLL loads or file writes from Downloads that immediately precede an installer launch gives detection coverage, though it is detective rather than preventive and is noisy on busy endpoints.

Affected ProductsAI

Docker Desktop for Windows is affected in versions through 4.48.0 (all editions/builds of the Windows installer, Installer.exe). Only the Windows packaging is in scope, since the flaw is specific to Windows DLL search-order behavior; macOS and Linux Docker Desktop installations are not implicated by this defect. The associated CPE data was not provided in the source record, so identification should rely on installed Docker Desktop version on Windows hosts (4.48.0 or earlier). The vendor's Docker Desktop release notes page (https://docs.docker.com/desktop/release-notes/) is the reference supplied with this CVE and should be consulted for the version in which the installer was corrected; versions above 4.48.0 fall outside the stated affected range.

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause is CWE-427 (Uncontrolled Search Path Element): Windows DLL resolution for Docker Desktop's Installer.exe consults a user-writable location - the user's Downloads folder - before the trusted system directories, so a DLL with the same name as one the installer expects can be planted there and loaded instead. The Windows loader normally prioritizes the application directory and System32 (with SafeDllSearchMode placing the current directory after the system paths), so the effective remediation on the vendor side is to harden the installer's DLL loading (AbsolutePath loading, SetDefaultDllDirectories, or removal of the offending search path). Because the installer commonly requests elevation to complete an installation or upgrade, successful hijack crosses a privilege boundary (the independent assessment scores S:C with C:H/I:H/A:H), giving the attacker the installer's elevated context - hence local privilege escalation rather than mere code execution. The affected surface is Windows-only installations of Docker Desktop up to and including 4.48.0; no CPE strings were supplied with this record, so scoping should be done by product and version range (Docker Desktop for Windows, <= 4.48.0).

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Severity by source

Vendor (docker) PRIMARY 8.8 HIGH

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/S:P/AU:Y/R:U/V:C

vuln.today AI 7.8 HIGH

Local, authenticated low-priv user (AV:L/PR:L) planting a DLL that only loads if the installer is run, so AC:H; loading in the elevated installer context crosses privilege boundaries (S:C) with full C/I/A impact.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

Primary rating from Vendor (docker).

CVSS VectorVendor: docker

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

High

Attack Requirements

Present

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Vulnerable system: Confidentiality

High

Vulnerable system: Integrity

High

Vulnerable system: Availability

High

Subsequent system: Confidentiality

High

Subsequent system: Integrity

High

Subsequent system: Availability

High

DescriptionCVE.org

Docker Desktop Installer.exe is vulnerable to DLL hijacking due to insecure DLL search order. The installer searches for required DLLs in the user's Downloads folder before checking system directories, allowing local privilege escalation through malicious DLL placement.This issue affects Docker Desktop: through 4.48.0.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

A local privilege-escalation weakness in the Docker Desktop for Windows installer affects releases through 4.48.0 and could allow a low-privileged user to obtain elevated rights during an installation or upgrade if they can stage a malicious DLL and get the installer to run. The risk is confined to Windows installation or upgrade scenarios, does not affect already-installed or running Docker Desktop, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis. Leadership should prioritize controlled installer handling and endpoint oversight for affected Windows assets until a vendor fix is available, while recognizing that the required local access and installer-run precondition limit broad exploitation.

Business Impact: Medium

Compensating Controls

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: restrict Docker Desktop installer or upgrader execution to IT-managed deployments from trusted administrative media; require the user's Downloads folder to be empty or cleaned before any install or upgrade; use WDAC/AppLocker to block unsigned or untrusted DLLs from loading from user-writable paths; enforce least privilege and avoid local admin rights for Docker Desktop users where possible; monitor for unexpected DLL files in Downloads and for Docker Desktop Installer.exe DLL-loading activity; and defer non-critical installs or upgrades of Docker Desktop for Windows through 4.48.0 until a fixed version is available.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

0.1%

Top 99% exploitable

Prevalence

High

Docker Desktop is very widely deployed developer tooling on Windows endpoints

Data Quality

3 sources

Confidence: Low

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity HIGH

CISA KEV No

Public POC No

EPSS 0.1%

Patch available No

Active threat No

Deciding rule

HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Defer

Exploitation· derived

None

System Exposure· derived

Small

Automatable· derived

Human Impact

Medium

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: 0

CVSS: +44

PoC: 0

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege Escalation HIGH

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.