Docker Buildx up to 0.38.0 Bake path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in Docker Buildx up to 0.38.0. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component Bake. Such manipulation leads to path traversal. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-121542. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Docker Buildx up to 0.38.0 and classified as problematic. Affected by this issue is an unknown code block of the component Bake. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-22. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. Impacted is confidentiality. CVE summarizes:

In Docker Buildx versions v0.19.0 through v0.38.0, an untrusted Bake definition may expose files accessible to the Buildx client without the expected fs.read approval. Under certain conditions, paths under the same parent directory as the current working directory whose names use the working directory's basename as a prefix can skip the filesystem entitlement check. Exploitation requires specific matching filenames next to the current project directory. Users who run untrusted Bake definitions may be affected. The issue is fixed in v0.38.1.

The advisory is available at github.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-121542 since 11/03/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available. This vulnerability is assigned to T1006 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

Upgrading to version 0.38.1 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Type

• Virtualization Software

Vendor

• Docker

Name

• Buildx

Version

• 0.1
• 0.2
• 0.3
• 0.4
• 0.5
• 0.6
• 0.7
• 0.8
• 0.9
• 0.10
• 0.11
• 0.12
• 0.13
• 0.14
• 0.15
• 0.16
• 0.17
• 0.18
• 0.19
• 0.20
• 0.21
• 0.22
• 0.23
• 0.24
• 0.25
• 0.26
• 0.27
• 0.28
• 0.29
• 0.30
• 0.31
• 0.32
• 0.33
• 0.34
• 0.35
• 0.36
• 0.37
• 0.38.0

Website

• Product: https://github.com/docker/buildx/

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