GHSA-x86f-5xw2-fm2rHighCVSS 7.2
Docker: `PUT /containers/{id}/archive` executes container binary on the host
🔗 CVE IDs covered (1)
📋 Description
## Summary
When a user uploads a compressed archive into a container, a malicious image can execute arbitrary code with daemon (host root) privileges.
## Details
When handling `PUT /containers/{id}/archive` requests with compressed archives, the daemon decompresses them using external system binaries. Due to incorrect ordering of operations, these binaries are resolved from the container's filesystem rather than the host's. A container image that includes a trojanized decompression binary can achieve code execution as the daemon process whenever a compressed archive is uploaded to that container.
The executed binary runs with the daemon's full privileges, including host root UID and unrestricted capabilities.
## Impact
Arbitrary code execution as host root, crossing the container-to-host trust boundary.
### Conditions for exploitation
- A user must run a container from a malicious image that contains a trojanized decompression binary.
- The user must then upload a compressed archive (xz or gzip) into that container, either by piping a compressed archive via `docker cp -` or by calling the `PUT /containers/{id}/archive` API directly with compressed content.
### Not affected
Standard `docker cp` usage is **not** affected, because the CLI sends uncompressed tar by default:
```
docker cp ./file.txt mycontainer:/file.txt
```
This can only be exploited when explicitly passing a xz or gzip-compressed archive to `docker cp` or the `PUT /containers/{id}/archive` API, for example:
```
cat archive.tar.xz | docker cp - mycontainer:/dir
```
Decompression formats using pure Go implementations (bzip2, zstd, and gzip when the container image does not contain an `unpigz` binary) are also not affected.
## Workarounds
- Only run containers from trusted images.
- Use authorization plugins to limit access to the `PUT /containers/{id}/archive` endpoint.
- Avoid piping compressed archives into containers created from untrusted images.
🎯 Affected products3
- go/github.com/moby/moby/v2:< 2.0.0-beta.14
- go/github.com/docker/docker:<= 28.5.2
- go/github.com/moby/moby:<= 28.5.2