Vulnerability in github.com/portainer/portainer (CVE-2026-44848)
Summary
Vulnerability in github.com/portainer/portainer (CVE-2026-44848). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Exploitable via POST /plugins/pull. Mitigation: upgrade to 2.41.0 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
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.
Source: GitHub Security Advisories (Global) NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-44848 has been found in github.com/portainer/portainer.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like POST /plugins/pull over the network to misuse the product.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 8.8/10.
What to do: upgrade github.com/portainer/portainer to 2.41.0 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "github.com/portainer/portainer CVE-2026-44848" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-44848 (github.com/portainer/portainer) — CWE-862 / CVSS v3 8.8
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction
Attack surface: POST /plugins/pull / POST /plugins/{name}/enable / CAP_SYS_ADMIN / prefixProxyFuncMap
Patched: 2.41.0 — apply immediately
Workaround: Administrators who cannot immediately upgrade can reduce exposure by temporarily revoking Docker endpoint access for non-admin users via Portainer RBAC until the patched release is deployed.
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-862) exists in github.com/portainer/portainer. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via POST /plugins/pull.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of github.com/portainer/portainer. Attack surface: POST /plugins/pull / POST /plugins/{name}/enable / CAP_SYS_ADMIN / prefixProxyFuncMap.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 2.41.0.
Workaround: Administrators who cannot immediately upgrade can reduce exposure by temporarily revoking Docker endpoint access for non-admin users via Portainer RBAC until the patched release is deployed.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual POST /plugins/pull requests with malformed payloads or SQL meta-characters. Run grep -r 'github.com/portainer/portainer' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'github.com/portainer/portainer' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
github.com/portainer/portainerを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Hunt for indicators of compromise detect
grep 'POST /plugins/pull' /var/log/nginx/access.log | grep -E '(unusual_payload|sqli_pattern)'アクセスログで
POST /plugins/pullへの異常なリクエスト (不正な認証ヘッダ・SQLメタ文字)を過去 30〜90日分捜索。WAF/SIEM があれば該当パスのアラート発火履歴を確認。 -
3Apply temporary workaround mitigate
Administrators who cannot immediately upgrade can reduce exposure by temporarily **revoking Docker endpoint access for non-admin users** via Portainer RBAC until the patched release is deployed.パッチが適用されるまでの応急処置として、Administrators who cannot immediately upgrade can reduce exposure by temporarily revoking Docker endpoint access for non-admin users via Portainer RBAC until the patched release is deployed. を実施。回避策の副作用 (機能低下) を確認した上で。
-
4Apply patch patch
Upgrade github.com/portainer/portainer to 2.41.0ステージング環境で 2.41.0 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスと、Step 2 で見つけた異常検知の続報チェックを含めること。
-
5Post-deployment verification verify
Replay attack against POST /plugins/pull on staging to confirm patch closes the vectorパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番では Step 2 と同じログクエリでアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
References
- advisory github.com
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- advisory github.com
- package github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com