# CVE-2025-3224: Elevation of Privilege in Docker Desktop for Windows during Upgrade due to Insecure Directory Deletion

> CVE-2025-3224: Elevation of Privilege in Docker Desktop for Windows during Upgrade due to Insecure Directory Deletion. CVSS 7.8 (CVSS 3.1).

Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2025-3224
Last updated: 2026-06-17T09:19:28Z

- Published: 2025-04-28 19:21 UTC · Updated: 2026-06-17 09:19 UTC · Assigner: Docker
- CVSS: 7.8 (CVSS 3.1) · Severity: High · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS: 0.25%, 16th percentile (scored 2026-10-25)
- CISA KEV: no
- CWE: CWE-269, CWE-59

## Description

A vulnerability in the update process of Docker Desktop for Windows versions prior to 4.41.0 could allow a local, low-privileged attacker to escalate privileges to SYSTEM. During an update, Docker Desktop attempts to delete files and subdirectories under the path C:\\ProgramData\\Docker\\config with high privileges. However, this directory often does not exist by default, and C:\\ProgramData\\ allows normal users to create new directories. By creating a malicious Docker\\config folder structure at this location, an attacker can force the privileged update process to delete or manipulate arbitrary system files, leading to Elevation of Privilege.

## Affected vendors and products

- Docker: Docker Desktop

## Tracked companies

- [Docker](https://rewindex.com/company/docker.md)

## References

- [CVE record on cve.org](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-3224)
- [NVD entry](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-3224)
- [https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/blog/2022/3/16/abusing-arbitrary-file-deletes-to-escalate-privilege-and-other-great-tricks](https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/blog/2022/3/16/abusing-arbitrary-file-deletes-to-escalate-privilege-and-other-great-tricks)

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_Sources: CVE records from the CVE Program (cve.org). CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. (https://www.cve.org/) This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. (https://nvd.nist.gov/) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog from CISA. (https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog) EPSS scores from FIRST (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). (https://www.first.org/epss/)_


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Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2025-3224 · Markdown: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2025-3224.md · JSON: https://rewindex.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2025-3224 · Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) · Generated 2026-10-26T02:14:29.424Z