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Uncontrolled Search Path (DLL Hijack)Weakness · CWE-427

CVE-2025-9164

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-10-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Docker Desktop Installer.exe is vulnerable to DLL hijacking due to insecure DLL search order. The installer searches for required DLLs in the user's Downloads folder before checking system directories, allowing local privilege escalation through malicious DLL placement.This issue affects Docker Desktop: through 4.48.0.

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

Docker Desktop Installer.exe is vulnerable to DLL hijacking due to an insecure DLL search order. The installer checks the user's Downloads folder before system directories when loading required DLLs, allowing a local attacker to place a malicious DLL that will be loaded with elevated privileges during installation.

MitigationUsers should avoid running Docker Desktop installer from directories where untrusted files exist, and wait for Docker's official patch (upgrade to version newer than 4.48.0) which should fix the insecure DLL search path.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
Authentication
Y
User interaction
None
Scope
P

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:P/AU:Y/R:U/V:C/RE:X/U:X

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. Check Docker Desktop version
    Run 'docker --version' or inspect the Docker Desktop installation directory for version information
    Affected if Version is 4.48.0 or earlier (versions newer than 4.48.0 contain the fix)
  2. Identify the location from which the installer was run
    Check the Downloads folder for Docker Desktop Installer.exe - note that the installer loads DLLs from the current working directory first
    Affected if The installer was executed while the current working directory was the user's Downloads folder or contained the malicious DLL
  3. Inspect Downloads folder for suspicious DLLs
    List all .dll files in the Downloads folder that may have been planted before the installation attempt
    Affected if Unexpected DLL files exist in Downloads folder that could be loaded by the installer with elevated privileges

You are affected if Docker Desktop version is 4.48.0 or earlier AND the installer was run from a directory (such as Downloads) where an attacker could place a malicious DLL.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Users should avoid running Docker Desktop installer from directories where untrusted files exist, and wait for Docker's official patch (upgrade to version newer than 4.48.0) which should fix the insecure DLL search path.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,260
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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-2025-9164 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