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Memcached Docker ImageApplication · Docker

CVE-2020-35197

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.5.11 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 memcached docker images before 1.5.11-alpine (Alpine specific) contain a blank password for a root user. System using the memcached 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 memcached Docker images before version 1.5.11-alpine contain a blank password for the root user, specific to the Alpine Linux variant. A remote attacker can exploit this to gain root access to the container.

MitigationUpgrade memcached Docker images to version 1.5.11-alpine or later, which removes the blank root password. Ensure containers are rebuilt and redeployed with the fixed version.

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
Memcached Docker ImageApplication
Affected:< 1.5.11

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 running Memcached containers
    Run 'docker ps' to list all running containers and look for containers using memcached images
    Affected if A Memcached container is running from an affected image
  2. Check the Docker image version
    Run 'docker inspect <container_id>' or 'docker images' to retrieve the memcached image tag/version
    Affected if The image version is below 1.5.11
  3. Confirm Alpine variant
    Run 'docker exec <container_id> cat /etc/os-release' or inspect the image metadata to verify the Alpine Linux variant is in use
    Affected if The container is running Alpine Linux variant of memcached
  4. Check root user authentication
    Attempt to connect to the container as root without a password, or inspect /etc/shadow or the container's user configuration for the root account
    Affected if The root user has a blank password set

The environment is affected if a Memcached Docker container is running an Alpine variant image with version below 1.5.11 that has a blank root password.

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 1.5.11 or later
Fixed in 1.5.11
Interim mitigation

Upgrade memcached Docker images to version 1.5.11-alpine or later, which removes the blank root password. Ensure containers are rebuilt and redeployed with the fixed version.

Recommended fix High confidence

memcached:1.5.11-alpine or later (for Alpine-based deployments); memcached:1.5.11 or later (for other base images)

  1. 1. Stop the currently running vulnerable memcached container
  2. 2. Pull the fixed memcached Docker image: docker pull memcached:1.5.11-alpine (or a later stable version)
  3. 3. Update your Docker Compose file or container configuration to reference the fixed image version (e.g., memcached:1.5.11-alpine)
  4. 4. Review and update any startup scripts or configurations that may have relied on the blank root password
  5. 5. Start the container with the new fixed image
  6. 6. Verify proper authentication is now required by attempting an unauthenticated connection (should fail)
Caveat Any automation or scripts that relied on the blank root password for root access will need to be updated to use proper authentication

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

Fix this in Memcached Docker Image Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2020-35197 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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