Threats / Docker / CVE-2019-15752
CVE-2019-15752
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Docker Desktop Community Edition vulnerability
Docker Desktop Community Edition allows local privilege escalation through a trojan horse docker-credential-wincred.exe file placed in %PROGRAMDATA%\DockerDesktop\version-bin\.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A local attacker can escalate privileges by injecting a malicious credential helper executable into a predictable system directory that Docker Desktop trusts during execution, bypassing access controls.
CISA KEV Yes · 2021-11-034EPSS 0.31918 (verify live)5CVSS 7.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3Exploit Weaponized · public exploit · Metasploit module8
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
1 independent public report of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.31918 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Docker, Desktop Community Edition. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-732 Incorrect Permission Assignment — weakness family: Authorization / access control.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 798 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I identify that Docker Desktop searches for docker-credential-wincred.exe in a world-writable or insufficiently protected system directory.
Business
The organization's endpoint security posture is compromised by a single-step local privilege escalation requiring no user interaction.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I place a trojan horse executable in %PROGRAMDATA%\DockerDesktop\version-bin\ where Docker Desktop will load it with elevated privileges.
Business
Attackers gain system-level code execution on developer machines, enabling lateral movement and data exfiltration across the enterprise network.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I execute the malicious credential helper when Docker Desktop invokes credential operations, achieving privilege escalation.
Business
Sensitive credentials stored in Docker configurations and container registries become accessible to attackers with local foothold.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05