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CVE-2022-36109

Moby vulnerability relating to supplementary group permissions

CVSS 5.3 MEDIUMEPSS 0.8%CWE-863
In short

Docker Engine has a bug where supplementary groups (secondary user permissions) are not properly configured in containers. An attacker with container access could exploit this to bypass group-based access controls and access sensitive data or run unauthorized code.

Technical detail

CVE-2022-36109 involves improper initialization of supplementary groups in Moby/Docker Engine when using the USER Dockerfile instruction. An authenticated attacker with direct container access can manipulate supplementary group membership to circumvent primary group restrictions, potentially escalating privileges or accessing restricted resources. Fixed in version 20.10.18; existing containers require restart to apply permission corrections.

Summary generated and translated by AI from the official description.
Moby is an open-source project created by Docker to enable software containerization. A bug was found in Moby (Docker Engine) where supplementary groups are not set up properly. If an attacker has direct access to a container and manipulates their supplementary group access, they may be able to use supplementary group access to bypass primary group restrictions in some cases, potentially gaining access to sensitive information or gaining the ability to execute code in that container. This bug is fixed in Moby (Docker Engine) 20.10.18. Running containers should be stopped and restarted for the permissions to be fixed. For users unable to upgrade, this problem can be worked around by not using the `"USER $USERNAME"` Dockerfile instruction. Instead by calling `ENTRYPOINT ["su", "-", "user"]` the supplementary groups will be set up properly.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Affected products
moby · moby

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