CVE-2025-14740
Docker Desktop for Windows contains multiple incorrect permission assignment vulnerabilities in the installer's handling of the C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop directory. The installer creates this directory without proper ownership verification, creating two exploitation scenarios:
Scenario 1 (Persistent Attack): If a low-privileged attacker pre-creates C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop before Docker Desktop installation, the attacker retains ownership of the directory even after the installer applies restrictive ACLs. At any time after installation completes, the attacker can modify the directory ACL (as the owner) and tamper with critical configuration files such as install-settings.json to specify a malicious credentialHelper, causing arbitrary code execution when any user runs Docker Desktop.
Scenario 2 (TOCTOU Attack): During installation, there is a time-of-check-time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition between when the installer creates C:\ProgramData\DockerDesktop and when it sets secure ACLs. A low-privileged attacker actively monitoring for the installation can inject malicious files (such as install-settings.json) with attacker-controlled ACLs during this window, achieving the same code execution outcome.
Deep Security Visibility Without the Complexity
SynScan provides clear, real-time security insights so you can monitor your attack surface, spot risks early, and act fast—without extra complexity.
- No setup fees
- 5-min deployment
- Cancel anytime
Frequently Asked Questions
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.