MachineApplication · Docker

CVE-2023-40453

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 0.16.2 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit 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
Docker Machine through 0.16.2 allows an attacker, who has control of a worker node, to provide crafted version data, which might potentially trick an administrator into performing an unsafe action (via escape sequence injection), or might have a data size that causes a denial of service to a bastion node. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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
MachineApplication
Affected:<= 0.16.2

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 a release after 0.16.2
Recommended fix High confidence
  1. 1. Since Docker Machine (all versions <= 0.16.2) is no longer supported by the maintainer, there is no official fix or patch available.
  2. 2. Identify any systems still running Docker Machine and assess whether they can be migrated to a supported alternative (e.g., Docker Desktop, Minikube, or cloud-provider container services).
  3. 3. If migration is not immediately feasible, implement network segmentation to restrict which nodes can communicate with the bastion node.
  4. 4. Ensure that any data from worker nodes (including version data) is treated as untrusted and not displayed directly in administrator terminals without sanitization.
  5. 5. Monitor for any unauthorized access or unusual activity on systems that still use Docker Machine.
Caveat No upgrade path available - Docker Machine is end-of-life and no longer maintained. Migration to alternative solutions (Docker Desktop, Minikube, cloud-native tooling) is required for continued support.

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

We can identify the exact fixed release, upgrade, and verify it in staging — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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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-2023-40453 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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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
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