CVE-2026-44848Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Authenticated host RCE via unhandled plugin routes

Published May 28, 2026 · Updated May 28, 2026

Missing authorization in Portainer Community Edition allows remote authenticated users with Docker endpoint access to execute code as host root. The Docker proxy's prefix dispatch map omits /plugins, causing plugin requests to fall through to direct daemon forwarding without Portainer authorization. A non-admin account granted RBAC access to a Docker endpoint can pull and enable a plugin that Docker runs with root privileges and host capabilities.

CVSS severity9.4
Critical
EPSS probability0.40%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Missing authorization in Portainer Community Edition allows remote authenticated users with Docker endpoint access to execute code as host root. The Docker proxy's prefix dispatch map omits /plugins, causing plugin requests to fall through to direct daemon forwarding without Portainer authorization. A non-admin account granted RBAC access to a Docker endpoint can pull and enable a plugin that Docker runs with root privileges and host capabilities.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-44848
Published
May 28, 2026
Updated
May 28, 2026
Vendor
Portainer
Product
Portainer
Classifications
CWE-862, T1068
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 28, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 28, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 2.33.0, < 2.33.8
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 2.39.0, < 2.39.2
  3. Affected versionversion=>= 2.40.0, < 2.41.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Portainer · Portainerversion=>= 2.33.0, < 2.33.8; version=>= 2.39.0, < 2.39.2; version=>= 2.40.0, < 2.41.0

Published CVSS scores

8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.4GitHub, Inc.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

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-862Missing Authorization
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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