Boot2dockerOperating system

CVE-2014-5280

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-02-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.2.0 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
boot2docker 1.2 and earlier allows attackers to conduct cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks by leveraging Docker daemons enabling TCP connections without TLS authentication.

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 · moderate confidence

boot2docker 1.2 and earlier contains a CSRF vulnerability where Docker daemons accepting TCP connections without TLS authentication can be exploited. Attackers can trick authenticated users into making unintended API calls to the Docker daemon by leveraging the lack of CSRF protections on unauthenticated TCP endpoints.

MitigationEnable TLS authentication for Docker daemon TCP connections and configure proper CORS/anti-CSRF headers. Upgrade to a patched version of boot2docker if available, or migrate to Docker Machine with secure TLS configuration.

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
Boot2dockerOperating system
Affected:<= 1.2.0

CVSS 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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if boot2docker is in use
    Run 'boot2docker version' or check the boot2docker ISO version file (typically /var/lib/boot2docker/etc/os-version or similar boot2docker system files)
    Affected if The system is running boot2docker and the version is 1.2.0 or earlier
  2. Verify Docker daemon TCP listener configuration
    Check Docker daemon configuration (commonly in /etc/default/docker, /etc/docker/daemon.json, or via 'docker -d' flags). Look for -H or --host flags exposing TCP ports (e.g., -H tcp://0.0.0.0:2375)
    Affected if The Docker daemon is configured to listen on a TCP endpoint (especially without encryption)
  3. Confirm TLS authentication is disabled for TCP
    Inspect Docker daemon startup flags or configuration files for the absence of TLS-related flags (--tls, --tlsverify, --tlscacert, --tlscert, --tlskey) on the TCP listener
    Affected if TCP connections are accepted without TLS verification (no --tlsverify flag present)
  4. Check for CSRF protection on the Docker API
    Inspect HTTP headers returned from the Docker API endpoint (e.g., via 'curl -I http://<docker-host>:2375/info') for absence of anti-CSRF headers such as X-CSRF-Token, X-Docker-CSRF-Token, or similar protections
    Affected if The Docker API responds over unauthenticated TCP without CSRF protection headers

A user is affected if running boot2docker <= 1.2.0 with the Docker daemon exposed over unauthenticated TCP (no TLS) and lacking CSRF protection headers on the API endpoint.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.2.0
Interim mitigation

Enable TLS authentication for Docker daemon TCP connections and configure proper CORS/anti-CSRF headers. Upgrade to a patched version of boot2docker if available, or migrate to Docker Machine with secure TLS configuration.

Fix this in Boot2docker Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-5280 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data