Docker Desktop: Container-to-host write via exposed Engine API (CVE-2025-9074)

CVE-2025-9074 is a vulnerability in Docker Desktop for Windows where the Docker Engine HTTP API is reachable from within containers at 192.168.65.7:2375 without authentication. An attacker with container-level access can interact with this API to create new containers with bind mounts to the host Windows file system, enabling full read/write access to the host machine.

Attack Chain

1. Attacker gains initial access to a container running on the target Docker Desktop instance.
2. Attacker performs discovery to identify the reachable Docker Engine API endpoint (192.168.65.7:2375).
3. Attacker validates reachability by sending a GET request to the /_ping endpoint.
4. Attacker constructs a malicious API request to the /containers/create endpoint.
5. Attacker specifies a HostConfig bind mount in the request body, mapping the host's Windows C drive to a directory inside the new container.
6. Attacker spawns the container and executes commands to write or modify files on the underlying Windows host.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows for container escape, arbitrary file write, and host-level interaction, potentially leading to full system compromise of the Windows host.

Recommendation

• Update Docker Desktop for Windows to the latest patched version.
• Audit and restrict access to the Docker Engine API; ensure it is not exposed over HTTP to containers or untrusted networks.
• Implement network policies to block container-to-container or container-to-host traffic to the Docker API port (2375).
• Implement monitoring for unauthorized container creation events originating from within existing containers.