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Haproxy Docker ImageWeb server / proxy · Docker

CVE-2020-35195

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.8.18 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
The official haproxy docker images before 1.8.18-alpine (Alpine specific) contain a blank password for a root user. System using the haproxy docker container deployed by affected versions of the docker image may allow a remote attacker to achieve root access with a blank password.

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 confidence

The official HAProxy Docker images based on Alpine Linux prior to version 1.8.18-alpine ship with a root user account that has a blank (empty) password. This configuration vulnerability allows any remote attacker who can access the container's SSH or terminal service to authenticate as root without providing any password, achieving full system compromise.

MitigationImmediately update the HAProxy Docker image to version 1.8.18-alpine or later, or migrate to a non-Alpine base image variant. Verify that the root account either has a strong password configured or is disabled/locked if not needed.

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
Haproxy Docker ImageWeb server / proxy
Affected:< 1.8.18

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Identify the HAProxy Docker image version
    Run 'docker images' to list local HAProxy images, then inspect with 'docker inspect <image-id>' to find the tag or digest version. Alternatively, check the image tag directly if known (e.g., 'haproxy:1.8.17-alpine').
    Affected if The image version is tagged as anything below 1.8.18 and includes '-alpine' in the tag (e.g., 1.8.17-alpine, 1.8.16-alpine, etc.)
  2. Determine if the running container uses an Alpine base
    Inspect the container with 'docker inspect <container-id>' and look for the 'Os' or 'Architecture' fields, or check the image history with 'docker history <image-id>' to see base layer labels.
    Affected if The base image is Alpine Linux (often shown as 'alpine:latest' or specific alpine version in layer history)
  3. Check root account password status inside the container
    Start an interactive container shell with 'docker run -it <image> /bin/sh' and run 'cat /etc/shadow' or 'getent shadow root' to inspect the root account password field. An empty password appears as two consecutive colons (root::) in the second field.
    Affected if The root password field in /etc/shadow is empty (blank) - indicated by no characters between the first and second colons
  4. Verify if SSH or terminal access is exposed
    Check running containers with 'docker ps' and look for port mappings (-p flag) to ports 22 (SSH), 23 (Telnet), or any exposed interactive ports. Also inspect the Dockerfile or docker-compose.yml for exposed ports.
    Affected if SSH (port 22), Telnet (port 23), or any terminal service port is exposed/mapped, allowing remote authentication to the container

A user is affected if they are running a HAProxy Docker image with an Alpine base and version below 1.8.18, where the root account has an empty password AND the container has an accessible terminal or SSH service.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.8.18 or later
Fixed in 1.8.18
Interim mitigation

Immediately update the HAProxy Docker image to version 1.8.18-alpine or later, or migrate to a non-Alpine base image variant. Verify that the root account either has a strong password configured or is disabled/locked if not needed.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.8.18-alpine or later

  1. Stop any running containers using affected HAProxy Docker images (docker stop <container_id>)
  2. Remove the affected container (docker rm <container_id>)
  3. Pull the fixed HAProxy Docker image version: docker pull haproxy:1.8.18-alpine (or newer)
  4. Update your docker-compose.yml, Kubernetes manifests, or deployment configuration to reference the new image version (haproxy:1.8.18-alpine or later)
  5. Deploy the updated container using your deployment method
  6. Verify the container is running correctly and HAProxy functionality is intact
Caveat Review HAProxy 1.8 release notes for any configuration or feature changes; also consider that Alpine base image updates may require adjustments

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Haproxy Docker Image Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2020-35195 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