CVE-2026-44881
CRITICALDescription
Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, Portainer supports deploying stacks from Git repositories. When a Git-backed stack is created or updated, Portainer clones the repository using go-git v5, which translates Git blob entries with mode 0o120000 (symlink) into real OS symlinks on the host filesystem via os.Symlink. The only entry blocked from becoming a symlink is .gitmodules; every other path is created as a symlink without validation. Portainer's GET /api/stacks/{id}/file endpoint then reads the stack entry point with os.ReadFile, which follows OS symlinks transparently. A repository containing docker-compose.yml as a symlink to an arbitrary filesystem path causes the symlink target's contents to be returned verbatim in the HTTP response. Any authenticated user with rights to create or update a Git-backed stack — the default configuration in Portainer CE — can read arbitrary files accessible to the Portainer process. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 33% of all known CVEs.
References
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Start freeThis product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-06-01.