CVE-2025-14740: Docker Desktop · Incorrect Permissions
Affects Docker DesktopSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.7 Medium.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 07:57 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 13% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Docker Inc.Docker Desktop | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should: 1) Restrict local user permissions to prevent unprivileged users from pre-creating or modifying the C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop directory prior to installation. 2) Perform Docker Desktop installations only from trusted administrators or automated processes with controlled environments to avoid TOCTOU race conditions. 3) Monitor and audit ownership and ACLs of critical directories like C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop before and after installation to detect unauthorized changes. 4) Use application whitelisting and endpoint protection to detect and block unauthorized modifications to install-settings.json or other configuration files. 5) Consider deploying Docker Desktop in environments with minimal local user access or via containerized or virtualized setups to reduce attack surface. 6) Stay alert for official patches or updates from Docker Inc. addressing this issue and apply them promptly when available. 7) Educate users and administrators about the risks of running installers with elevated privileges in untrusted contexts. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling directory ownership, preventing race conditions during installation, and monitoring critical configuration files.
Description
Docker Desktop for Windows contains multiple incorrect permission assignment vulnerabilities in the installer's handling of the C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop directory. The installer creates this directory without proper ownership verification, creating two exploitation scenarios: Scenario 1 (Persistent Attack): If a low-privileged attacker pre-creates C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop before Docker Desktop installation, the attacker retains ownership of the directory even after the installer applies restrictive ACLs. At any time after installation completes, the attacker can modify the directory ACL (as the owner) and tamper with critical configuration files such as install-settings.json to specify a malicious credentialHelper, causing arbitrary code execution when any user runs Docker Desktop. Scenario 2 (TOCTOU Attack): During installation, there is a time-of-check-time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition between when the installer creates C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop and when it sets secure ACLs. A low-privileged attacker actively monitoring for the installation can inject malicious files (such as install-settings.json) with attacker-controlled ACLs during this window, achieving the same code execution outcome.