CVE-2025-49593
📋 TL;DR
Portainer Community Edition versions before STS 2.31.0 and LTS 2.27.7 contain an information disclosure vulnerability where HTTP headers (including authentication credentials and session tokens) can be leaked to malicious container registries. This occurs when administrators register or attackers compromise container registries. All Portainer administrators managing container environments are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Portainer Community Edition
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain full administrative access to Portainer, potentially compromising all managed container environments (Docker, Kubernetes, Swarm, ACI) and exfiltrating sensitive data or deploying malicious containers.
Likely Case
Credential theft leading to unauthorized access to container registries and potential lateral movement within container environments.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper registry validation and network segmentation preventing external registry communication.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires social engineering to trick administrators or prior compromise of container registries. No public exploit code available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: STS 2.31.0 or LTS 2.27.7
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/portainer/portainer/security/advisories/GHSA-h5jw-8c32-xfv6
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup Portainer configuration. 2. Stop Portainer service. 3. Update to STS 2.31.0 or LTS 2.27.7 using your deployment method (Docker, Kubernetes, etc.). 4. Restart Portainer service. 5. Verify functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict Registry Access
allLimit Portainer's ability to communicate with external container registries using network controls.
# Configure firewall rules to block Portainer from accessing untrusted registries
# Example: iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -d malicious-registry.com -j DROP
Registry Validation Policy
allImplement strict approval process for adding new container registries.
# No commands - procedural control only
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate Portainer from external registries
- Enforce multi-person approval for all registry additions and monitor registry configuration changes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Portainer version in web UI under Settings > About or run: docker inspect portainer/portainer-ce | grep -i versionCheck Version:
docker inspect portainer/portainer-ce | grep -i versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is STS 2.31.0+ or LTS 2.27.7+ and test registry functionality remains operational.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected registry additions in Portainer logs
- Authentication failures from new IP addresses to container registries
Network Indicators:
- Portainer connections to unknown or suspicious registry domains
- Unusual outbound traffic patterns to registry endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="portainer" AND (event="registry_added" OR event="registry_modified")