Elevation of Privilege in Docker Desktop for Windows during Upgrade due to Insecure Directory Deletion (Docker Docker Desktop)

CVE-2025-3224
HIGH 7.3

At a glance

Source
NVD
EPSS
EPSS 0.25 % · percentile 16 ()
State
PUBLISHED
Published
Updated
Assigner
Docker
NVD status
Analyzed

Description

A vulnerability in the update process of Docker Desktop for Windows versions prior to 4.41.0 could allow a local, low-privileged attacker to escalate privileges to SYSTEM. During an update, Docker Desktop attempts to delete files and subdirectories under the path C:\ProgramData\Docker\config with high privileges. However, this directory often does not exist by default, and C:\ProgramData\ allows normal users to create new directories. By creating a malicious Docker\config folder structure at this location, an attacker can force the privileged update process to delete or manipulate arbitrary system files, leading to Elevation of Privilege.

Weaknesses (CWE)

  • CWE-269 — Improper Privilege Management
  • CWE-59 — Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

Scores

VersionScoreVectorScored by
CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.3CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:HDocker
CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.3CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:A/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:XNVD · security@docker.com (Secondary)
CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HNVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary)

European references

Affected configurations (NVD CPE)

Affected products

ProductVersions
Docker · Docker Desktopaffected 0 < 4.41.0

Sources

SourceLicence
CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5)CVE Program Terms of Use
EPSS (FIRST.org)FIRST — attribution requested
ENISA EUVDENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged
NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feedsPublic domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD