CVE-2022-36109 | Moby vulnerability relating to supplementary group permissions

Moby is an open-source project created by Docker to enable software containerization. A bug was found in Moby (Docker Engine) where supplementary groups are not set up properly. If an attacker has direct access to a container and manipulates their supplementary group access, they may be able to use supplementary group access to bypass primary group restrictions in some cases, potentially gaining access to sensitive information or gaining the ability to execute code in that container. This bug is fixed in Moby (Docker Engine) 20.10.18. Running containers should be stopped and restarted for the permissions to be fixed. For users unable to upgrade, this problem can be worked around by not using the `"USER $USERNAME"` Dockerfile instruction. Instead by calling `ENTRYPOINT ["su", "-", "user"]` the supplementary groups will be set up properly.

Published: 2022-09-09 Last update: 2025-01-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-36109 is rated Low Risk (24/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.03%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-36109

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-04 0.05% 0.03% -0.02%
2 2026-03-01 0.03% 0.05% +0.02%
3 2026-02-04 — 0.03% —

Full EPSS history (19 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-36109

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.8 3.4 [email protected]
6.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.8 3.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-36109

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2022-36109

GHSA-rc4r-wh2q-q6c4 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — Docker supplementary group permissions not set up properly, allowing attackers to bypass primary group restrictions

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-36109

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2022-36109: 1 source package rows (docker); 7 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 7, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2022-36109
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-36109 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (docker.io), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-36109
gentoo low CVE-2022-36109: 1 GLSA(s) (202409-29), 1 atom(s) (app-containers/docker); latest impact low. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-36109
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-36109
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-36109/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-36109 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (docker.io), 13 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 6, released 4, ignored 2, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-36109

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-36109

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mobyproject moby < 20.10.18 cpe:2.3:a:mobyproject:moby:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 36 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 37 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-36109

URL Tags
https://github.com/moby/moby/commit/de7af816e76a7fd3fbf06bffa6832959289fba32 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/moby/moby/releases/tag/v20.10.18 Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/moby/moby/security/advisories/GHSA-rc4r-wh2q-q6c4 Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/O7JL2QA3RB732MLJ3RMUXB3IB7AA22YU
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/RQQ4E3JBXVR3VK5FIZVJ3QS2TAOOXXTQ
https://www.benthamsgaze.org/2022/08/22/vulnerability-in-linux-containers-investigation-and-mitigation
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/O7JL2QA3RB732MLJ3RMUXB3IB7AA22YU/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RQQ4E3JBXVR3VK5FIZVJ3QS2TAOOXXTQ/
cvelogic Threat Intelligence