VULNpocalypse
MediumVulnerabilityPatch available

Docker Desktop 4.97.0 (CVE-2026-114409, CVE-2026-99999): third-party tokens in cleartext logs and a VM network-stack bug

Docker Desktop 4.39.0 to 4.96.x could log third-party API keys and OAuth tokens in cleartext. Update to 4.97.0 and delete old diagnostics bundles.

Published
Updated
Fixed in
Docker Desktop 4.97.0; Linux kernel 5.10.272, 5.15.223, 6.1.190, 6.6.159, 6.12.113, 6.18.57, 7.2.11, 7.3 for CVE-2026-99999
Exploitation
No exploitation reported by Docker; CISA’s enrichment lists CVE-2026-99999 as not exploited

Live scores

CVE-2026-114409
EPSS
0.001
low predicted chance of attack
VEDAS
0.047
little exploit evidence
On CISA KEV
Not listed
Detection rule
None yet

Live scores

CVE-2026-99999
EPSS
0.008
low predicted chance of attack
VEDAS
0.926
strong exploit evidence
On CISA KEV
Not listed
Detection rule
None yet

What happened

Docker Desktop 4.97.0, released on 26 October 2026, fixes two issues (Docker release notes).

CVE-2026-114409: credentials in logs (CVSS 4.0 5.7). Docker Desktop could write third-party API keys and OAuth access tokens in cleartext to local application logs and diagnostics bundles, because it did not redact enough of its internal IPC traffic. Anyone who can read those files can take the credentials. Docker says these OAuth tokens “are not Docker account tokens”. Versions 4.94.0 and 4.95.0 closed the known logging paths, but logs written earlier stayed on disk after the upgrade. 4.97.0 fixes the issue and also cleans up existing host logs and crash dumps (Docker security announcements; CVE record). The CVE record lists 4.39.0 up to 4.97.0 as affected. Docker has not said which third-party integrations’ keys were logged.

CVE-2026-99999: Linux kernel IPv4 checksum bug. A container could send packets with bad IPv4 checksum metadata through TUN or AF_PACKET and corrupt the network stack of Docker Desktop’s VM (Docker security announcements). The kernel fix makes the IPv4 stack validate checksum_start before completing a checksum. The flaw dates back to Linux 2.6.27, and the kernel CNA scores it CVSS 9.3 (CVE record). It is a kernel bug, so it matters on any Linux host that runs untrusted containers, not only in Docker Desktop.

Docker reports no exploitation. CISA’s enrichment of CVE-2026-99999 lists exploitation as “none” (CVE record).

Am I affected?

Check the Docker Desktop version on each developer machine:

bash
docker version --format '{{.Server.Platform.Name}}'

Anything from 4.39.0 up to 4.96.x is affected by CVE-2026-114409. The exposure is the third-party API keys and OAuth tokens you configured in Docker Desktop, sitting in log files and in any diagnostics bundle produced before you upgraded.

Diagnostics bundles are zip files. Docker’s troubleshooting guide shows them in /tmp/<diagnostics-ID>.zip on macOS and Linux, and in a folder under AppData\Local\Temp on Windows. Bundles uploaded to Docker support get a diagnostics ID (Docker troubleshooting). Also think about copies you made yourself: bundles attached to support tickets, GitHub issues or chat threads, and logs collected by endpoint or backup tools.

bash
# macOS and Linux: leftover diagnostics bundles
ls -la /tmp/*.zip 2>/dev/null

For CVE-2026-99999 on Linux servers, check the running kernel with uname -r against the fixed releases: 5.10.272, 5.15.223, 6.1.190, 6.6.159, 6.12.113, 6.18.57, 7.2.11 or 7.3 (CVE record). Distribution kernels carry their own version numbers, so use your vendor’s advisory.

What to do now

  1. Update Docker Desktop to 4.97.0 on every developer machine. Docker says this release also cleans up existing host logs and crash dumps.
  2. Delete or sanitize diagnostics bundles you generated or shared with 4.96.x or earlier, and any copies of Docker Desktop logs kept elsewhere. This is Docker’s own instruction (Docker release notes).
  3. Replace exposed third-party keys. If a bundle or log from an affected version went to a ticket, an issue tracker, a colleague or a shared drive, revoke and reissue the third-party API keys and OAuth tokens configured in Docker Desktop on that machine. Your Docker account token is not affected.
  4. Patch Linux hosts that run untrusted containers for CVE-2026-99999, since a container with access to TUN or AF_PACKET can reach the bug. Containers that do not need NET_RAW or /dev/net/tun should not have them.

Sources