Dockge Path Traversal via Unvalidated Stack Name Allows Arbitrary Compose and .env Disclosure and Arbitrary Directory Deletion

Description

Dockge validates a stack name only on the write path. In backend/stack.ts the allow-list check in validate(), which requires the name to match ^[a-z0-9_-]+$, is reached from save() alone, while the path getter returns path.join(this.server.stacksDir, this.name) and Stack.getStack builds path.join(server.stacksDir, stackName) with no check. The socket handlers in backend/agent-socket-handlers/docker-socket-handler.ts confirm the caller is logged in and that the name is a string, then pass it straight to Stack.getStack, so a name containing traversal sequences resolves outside the managed stacks directory. An authenticated user can therefore read the composeENV and composeYAML values of any directory the server process can reach, which discloses the secrets in that directory's .env or Compose file, and can invoke delete(), which runs docker compose down and then fsAsync.rm on the traversed path with recursive and force set, removing that directory. Disclosure is limited to files named .env or an accepted Compose filename, and deletion requires the target directory to hold a valid Compose file so that docker compose down exits successfully. Dockge commonly runs as root with access to the Docker socket, so the reachable set includes unrelated applications on the host. Instances configured with disableAuth, a supported option that logs the caller in as admin automatically, expose both operations without authentication.

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

0.94% · top 39% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.7.

Weakness

• CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-22 and its CVEs

Affected products

• louislam · dockge

  • affected ≤ 1.5.0

References (7)

• GitHub Issue #994 (opens in a new tab)issue-trackingexploit
• Unvalidated path getter at 1.5.0 (opens in a new tab)technical-description
• Stack.getStack joining an unvalidated stack name at 1.5.0 (opens in a new tab)technical-description
• delete() removing the traversed path recursively at 1.5.0 (opens in a new tab)technical-description
• getStack and deleteStack handlers checking only the argument type at 1.5.0 (opens in a new tab)technical-description
• https://github.com/louislam/dockge (opens in a new tab)product
• VulnCheck Advisory: Dockge Path Traversal via Unvalidated Stack Name Allows Arbitrary Compose and .env Disclosure and Arbitrary Directory Deletion (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisory

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

[![CVE-2026-73040](https://trackcve.app/badge/CVE-2026-73040.svg)](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2026-73040)

Record last updated 24 Sept 2026, 14:19 UTC.