Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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ReconObtain non-admin Portainer credentials
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DeliveryAuthenticate to Portainer UI
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ExploitSelect assigned Docker endpoint
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InstallCreate container with bind mount or privileged mode
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C2Mount host filesystem into container
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ExecuteRead sensitive host files or write SSH keys
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ImpactAchieve root-equivalent code execution on host
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Default permission hardening
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Attacker must hold an authenticated, non-administrative Portainer CE account that has been assigned access to at least one Docker endpoint, and that endpoint must still carry the insecure default EndpointSecuritySettings (AllowBindMountsForRegularUsers, AllowPrivilegedModeForRegularUsers, AllowHostNamespaceForRegularUsers, AllowContainerCapabilitiesForRegularUsers, AllowDeviceMappingForRegularUsers, and AllowSysctlSettingForRegularUsers all true) - these are applied automatically to any endpoint created on a pre-fix build unless an administrator manually disabled them. Passive user interaction (UI:P) is required per the CVSS vector, consistent with normal authenticated use of the Portainer web UI. Exploitation is LIMITED by the requirement for a pre-existing endpoint-scoped Portainer user account and a Docker-type endpoint (the host-breakout primitives are Docker-specific); deployments where every Portainer user is an admin, or where non-admins were never granted endpoint access, are not exposed. Administrators who previously hardened endpoint security settings by hand are also not affected even on vulnerable code. |
| Impact | CVSS v4.0 base score 8.5 with vector AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H reflects a network-reachable, low-complexity attack requiring low privileges (a non-admin Portainer account with endpoint access) and passive user interaction, yielding full confidentiality/integrity/availability impact on both the vulnerable system and downstream (the Docker host beyond Portainer's trust boundary). Threat metric E:P indicates proof-of-concept exploit code exists. EPSS and CISA KEV status were not provided in the input; absence of a KEV listing means there is no confirmed widespread exploitation, but the bar to abuse is low for any insider or compromised low-privilege account. The UI:P requirement is the only meaningful brake - exploitation requires the attacker to already hold a Portainer account on the affected endpoint, so external risk depends entirely on how broadly user accounts are provisioned. This is a real priority for any multi-tenant Portainer deployment; in single-admin home-lab setups the practical risk is much lower. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A non-admin Portainer user with assigned access to a Docker endpoint authenticates to the Portainer UI, creates a new container from any image, and in the advanced options enables a bind mount of /:/host (or sets the container to privileged mode with the host PID namespace). Once the container starts, they chroot into /host or use nsenter from the privileged context to read /etc/shadow, install SSH keys for root, or pivot into the host. Publicly available exploit code exists per CVSS threat metrics. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – May 28, 2026
Privilege escalation in Portainer Community Edition stems from permissive default endpoint security settings that grant non-admin users with endpoint access the ability to create containers with bind mounts, privileged mode, host namespaces, device mappings, sysctl settings, and Linux capabilities. An authenticated low-privilege user can leverage these defaults to read arbitrary host files or break out of the container boundary to achieve root-equivalent code execution on the Docker host. Publicly available exploit code exists per CVSS v4.0 threat metrics (E:P), but the issue is not listed in CISA KEV.
RemediationAI
Upstream fix available (PR/commit); released patched version not independently confirmed - upgrade to a Portainer CE build that includes commits ac8fa7672e732b44b970c9eaf928eddd2c68796c and 3e2fdb1891e81a8e4c5c8beb60e45f07c8ecae52 (https://github.com/portainer/portainer/commit/ac8fa7672e732b44b970c9eaf928eddd2c68796c and https://github.com/portainer/portainer/commit/3e2fdb1891e81a8e4c5c8beb60e45f07c8ecae52), which introduce DefaultEndpointSecuritySettings() with all host-exposing toggles set to false. Until a tagged release can be deployed, administrators should manually harden every existing endpoint by opening Environments → Endpoint → Security and disabling AllowBindMountsForRegularUsers, AllowPrivilegedModeForRegularUsers, AllowHostNamespaceForRegularUsers, AllowContainerCapabilitiesForRegularUsers, AllowDeviceMappingForRegularUsers, AllowSysctlSettingForRegularUsers, AllowVolumeBrowserForRegularUsers, and EnableHostManagementFeatures - note that flipping these off will break any legitimate workflows where non-admin users were intentionally relying on bind mounts or privileged containers, so audit existing stacks first. Additionally, restrict endpoint and team membership so only trusted users hold any access, and review the hardening guidance at https://intwave.com/blog/2026/02/26/improving-portainer-security.html.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
Portainer CE is a popular open-source container management UI for Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes, and Nomad environments. The flaw is rooted in CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions): when a new endpoint (Docker environment) is registered, Portainer's EndpointSecuritySettings struct was initialized with permissive flags - AllowBindMountsForRegularUsers, AllowPrivilegedModeForRegularUsers, AllowHostNamespaceForRegularUsers, AllowContainerCapabilitiesForRegularUsers, AllowDeviceMappingForRegularUsers, and AllowSysctlSettingForRegularUsers all set to true. Because Docker's bind-mount and --privileged primitives bridge the container/host boundary by design, granting these to non-admin users is functionally equivalent to handing them root on the host. The upstream fix introduces a single DefaultEndpointSecuritySettings() constructor that flips all of these to false, replacing the inline literals in api/datastore/datastore_test.go, api/http/handler/endpoints/endpoint_create.go, and api/internal/endpointutils/endpoint_setup.go.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P
Primary rating from Vendor (ENISA) · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorVendor: ENISA
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Insecure default settings of Portainer CE grant regular (non-admin) users privileges that allow host filesystem access and host-level code execution. An authenticated non-administrative user with endpoint access can exploit these settings to read host files or obtain root equivalent
access on the host.
Executive ViewAI
Portainer Community Edition contains a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2026-33590, CVSS 8.5) that allows authenticated users to achieve root-level code execution on Docker host systems by exploiting permissive default security settings. This directly compromises the confidentiality and availability of all containerized workloads and underlying host infrastructure accessible through Portainer. Organizations running Portainer Community Edition require immediate action to prevent container escape attacks that could expose sensitive data or disrupt business-critical applications.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: (1) Restrict endpoint access to authenticated administrative users only and disable non-admin user endpoint assignment; (2) Disable container creation options allowing privileged mode, bind mounts, device mappings, sysctl modifications, and host namespace access via Portainer security policies and templates; (3) Implement network segmentation limiting Portainer accessibility to trusted administrator IP ranges; (4) Enable comprehensive audit logging for all container operations and configuration changes; (5) Deploy host-level SELinux or AppArmor policies to restrict container capabilities and file access; (6) Establish monitoring and alerting for anomalous container creation patterns, elevated privilege requests, or attempts to modify host filesystem access.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
EUVD-2026-33007
GHSA-frhv-529m-5v9v
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB