GHSA-p436-gjf2-799p
Docker CLI Plugins: Uncontrolled Search Path Element Leads to Local Privilege Escalation on Windows
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Blast Radius
github.com/docker/cliReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
This issue affects Docker CLI through 29.1.5
Impact
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 v29.1.5 (fixed in v29.2.0). It impacts Windows binaries acting as a CLI plugin manager via the github.com/docker/cli/cli-plugins/manager package, which is consumed by downstream projects such as Docker Compose.
Docker Compose became affected starting in v2.31.0, when it incorporated the relevant CLI plugin manager code (see https://github.com/docker/compose/pull/12300), and is fixed in v5.1.0.
This issue does not impact non-Windows binaries or projects that do not use the plugin manager code.
Patches
Fixed version starts with 29.2.0
This issue was fixed in https://github.com/docker/cli/commit/13759330b1f7e7cb0d67047ea42c5482548ba7fa (https://github.com/docker/cli/pull/6713), which removed %PROGRAMDATA%\Docker\cli-plugins from the list of paths used for plugin-discovery on Windows.
Workarounds
None
Resources
- Pull request: "cli-plugins/manager: remove legacy system-wide cli-plugin path" (https://github.com/docker/cli/pull/6713)
- Patch: https://github.com/docker/cli/commit/13759330b1f7e7cb0d67047ea42c5482548ba7fa.patch
Credits
Nitesh Surana (niteshsurana.com) of Trend Research of TrendAI
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/docker/cli | ≥ 19.03.0&&< 29.2.0 | 29.2.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/docker/cli. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/docker/cli to 29.2.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-p436-gjf2-799p is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-p436-gjf2-799p is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-p436-gjf2-799p. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-p436-gjf2-799p in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-p436-gjf2-799p across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.