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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2026-44848: Portainer: Missing authorization on Docker plugin endpoints allows host RCE

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 37/100)

  • Public proof-of-concept code exists (GitHub); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.40% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: portainer portainer 2.33.8.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to portainer portainer 2.33.8 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, The Docker plugin management endpoints (/plugins/*) were not registered with a handler, so standard users with endpoint access could call privileged plugin operations — including installing and enabling plugins — directly against the underlying Docker daemon. The vulnerability is exposed when a non-admin Portainer user (Standard User role, or any role granted endpoint-level access) has been given access to a Docker endpoint via Portainer RBAC. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.

CriticalCVSS 9.4 · v4.0—Proof of concept Fix available
Published
May 28, 2026
Updated
Jul 21, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 34th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

37

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
37 / 40 · 9.4 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
proof of concept
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · GitHub_M
9.4
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • Proof of concept exists, no weaponized module
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
portainerportainer

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • portainer portainer2.33.0 and later · before 2.33.8
  • portainer portainer2.34.0 and later · before 2.39.2
  • portainer portainer2.40.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • portainer portainer

    • >= 2.33.0, < 2.33.8, >= 2.39.0, < 2.39.2, >= 2.40.0, < 2.41.0affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Gogithub.com/portainer/portainerfrom 0—
Gogithub.com/portainer/portainerfrom 2.33.0 · before 2.33.82.33.8
Gogithub.com/portainer/portainerfrom 2.39.0 · before 2.39.22.39.2
Gogithub.com/portainer/portainerfrom 2.40.0 · before 2.41.02.41.0

Same product

portainer: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2020-24264Portainer 1.24.1 and earlier is affected by incorrect access control that may lead to remote arbitrary code execution.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2018-19466A vulnerability was found in Portainer before 1.20.0.
    40Plan
  • CVE-2018-12678Portainer before 1.18.0 supports unauthenticated requests to the websocket endpoint with an unvalidated id query parameter for the /websocke
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2024-33662Oct 2, 2024 · Portainer before 2.20.2 improperly uses an encryption algorithm in the AesEncrypt function.
    30Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2025-49593Jun 17, 2025 · Portainer HTTP Headers May Leak to Malicious Container Registries
    27Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-44849May 28, 2026 · Portainer: Endpoint security bypass via Swarm service create/update
    37Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
portainer portainer2.33.8 · descriptionVendor (CNA)
Go:github.com/portainer/portainer2.33.8Package registry (OSV)
Go:github.com/portainer/portainer2.39.2Package registry (OSV)
Go:github.com/portainer/portainer2.41.0Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×2

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:22026-08-18
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:02026-10-24

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Published
  2. First PoC+81 d
  3. TodayOct 28, 2026+153 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-448490 days apartPortainer: Endpoint security bypass via Swarm service create/update
    37Monitor
  • CVE-2026-448840 days apartPortainer: Missing authorization on custom template file endpoint exposes template content
    24Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

  • CVE-2026-5576141 days apartPortainer: Unauthenticated Restore Endpoint Allows Admin Takeover on Uninitialised Portainer Instances
    28Monitor

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-862 · Missing Authorization

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/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:X

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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