CVE-2014-5279
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Docker daemon managed by boot2docker 1.2 and earlier improperly enables unauthenticated TCP connections by default, which makes it easier for remote attackers to gain privileges or execute arbitrary code from children containers.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceboot2docker 1.2 and earlier configures the Docker daemon to allow unauthenticated TCP connections by default, enabling remote attackers to connect to the Docker API without any credentials and potentially execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges from containerized environments.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 1.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if boot2docker is in useRun 'uname -a' or check system documentation to confirm the host is running boot2docker. boot2docker is a lightweight Linux distribution designed for running Docker containers.Affected if The system is running boot2docker as the host OS
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Check boot2docker versionRun 'docker version' or 'boot2docker version' to determine the installed version of boot2docker.Affected if The boot2docker version is 1.2 or earlier
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Verify Docker daemon TCP configurationInspect the Docker daemon configuration file (typically /var/lib/boot2docker/profile or /etc/default/docker) and check for the DOCKER_OPTS or --listen-tcp arguments that enable TCP listening without TLS authentication.Affected if The Docker daemon is configured to listen on TCP (typically port 2375) without requiring TLS authentication (no --tlsverify flag)
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Check for exposed Docker API portRun 'netstat -tlnp' or 'ss -tlnp' and look for Docker listening on port 2375 (unencrypted) or check if the port is accessible from external interfaces.Affected if Port 2375/tcp is listening and accessible without authentication
A system is affected if it runs boot2docker version 1.2 or earlier with the Docker daemon configured to accept unauthenticated TCP connections on port 2375.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataDisable unauthenticated TCP access to the Docker daemon, enable TLS authentication, or upgrade to a patched version of boot2docker/Docker.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-5279 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-5279 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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