CVE-2026-72533
Received Received - Intake

Authentication Bypass in Portainer CE via URL Normalization Flaw

Publication date: 2026-08-11

Last updated on: 2026-08-11

Assigner: 309f9ea4-e3e9-4c6c-b79d-e8eb01244f2c

Description
An authentication bypass vulnerability in Portainer CE through 2.44.0 allows authenticated low-privileged users to bypass Docker proxy authorization checks via non-canonical URL normalization, defeating all authorization middleware. The proxy endpoint fails to normalize request paths before applying access controls, allowing crafted requests to be interpreted differently by the proxy and the authorization layer. Successful exploitation grants the attacker root-level access to the underlying Docker host.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-11
Last Modified
2026-08-11
Generated
2026-08-11
AI Q&A
2026-08-11
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-72533
EUVD
EUVD-2026-56003

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
portainer portainer_ce 2.44.0

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Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-287 When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is an authentication bypass in Portainer CE through version 2.44.0. It allows low-privileged authenticated users to bypass Docker proxy authorization checks by using non-canonical URL normalization. The proxy endpoint fails to normalize request paths before applying access controls, causing the proxy and authorization layer to interpret requests differently. Exploitation grants root-level access to the underlying Docker host.

Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires checking Portainer CE versions and monitoring for unauthorized Docker host access. Verify your Portainer version is below 2.44.0 using 'docker ps' to inspect the Portainer container image tag. Check Docker host logs for unusual activity or root-level commands executed by low-privileged users. Monitor network traffic for non-canonical URL requests to Portainer proxy endpoints.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability allows an attacker with low privileges to gain root access to the Docker host. This could lead to complete control over containerized environments, unauthorized access to sensitive data, and potential compromise of other systems connected to the host.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to unauthorized access to personal or sensitive data, violating GDPR and HIPAA requirements. Compliance may be impacted due to potential data breaches, lack of proper access controls, and failure to maintain confidentiality and integrity of protected information.

Mitigation Strategies

Immediately upgrade Portainer CE to the latest version beyond 2.44.0 to patch the authentication bypass vulnerability. Disable low-privileged user access temporarily if an upgrade is not immediately possible. Review Docker host access logs for unusual activity or unauthorized root-level commands.

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