Docker Engine overlay-network encryption rules are not restored after a firewalld reload
- Exploited
- No known exploitation
- Fix
- Fixed in Docker Engine 29.9.3 · Moby v2.0.0-beta.29
- Who is exposed
- Not reported
Do first: Upgrade to a fixed version: Docker Engine 29.9.3 · Moby v2.0.0-beta.29.
- Last modified
- Whether it needs action now or is a reference record, by fixed rules, with why. Last checked is when cve.now last re-read it.What do these mean? →
- Reference
- Last checked
- A 0-100 score for how much a CVE matters across the industry: exploitation, exposure, how widely the software is used, severity and whether a fix exists.What do these mean? →
- 41/100 · provisional
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
Summary
Moby's overlay network driver does not restore the iptables rules for encrypted overlay networks after firewalld deletes them. Unlike other Docker Engine networking components, the overlay driver does not handle firewalld reload or start signals over D-Bus. The missing rules cause outgoing VXLAN datagrams to bypass IPsec encryption and remove the protection against incoming cleartext VXLAN traffic. The condition is not logged by dockerd and persists until the encrypted network's last local endpoint is removed and another is added, or dockerd is restarted. Each further firewalld event repeats the condition.
cve.now Index
- Exploitation?/40Unknown. No CISA SSVC exploitation rating yet
- Exposure17/25No login or user action needed per the CVSS vector, reachable over the network without a login · Unknown: No advisory context yet
- Reach17/20Affects Docker (a widely deployed server, runtime, framework or database)
- Severity7/10CVSS 7.0
- No patch0/5No signal
What would change the score
- Would score about 86 if added to CISA KEV
- Would score about 81 if CISA's SSVC rates exploitation active
- Would score about 46 if advisories confirm default setups are exposed
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed version: Docker Engine 29.9.3 · Moby v2.0.0-beta.29.
Check your systems with an agent
Paste this into a coding or ops agent. It checks your systems read-only and reports a table per asset.
Check whether my systems are affected by CVE-2026-115538 (Docker Engine overlay-network encryption rules are not restored after a firewalld reload), using the cve.now data below. Rules: work read-only. Do not run exploit code, proof-of-concept scripts or scanners that send attack payloads, and do not change any configuration, package, image or deployment. Report findings only. What cve.now has for CVE-2026-115538 (entry last updated 2026-11-10): Affected: - Docker Docker Engine: fixed in 29.9.3 - Moby Moby: fixed in v2.0.0-beta.29 Fixed versions: 29.9.3, v2.0.0-beta.29. Setup: unknown whether the bug needs a non-default feature or setting. Check the advisory. CISA KEV: CVE-2026-115538 is not listed as of cve.now's last read. This KEV status is for CVE-2026-115538 only. If you also check another CVE, look up its own KEV status; never assume it from this one. How to check: - Installed software: check what is actually running, not what a repo declares. Read the version from each host, container image and Kubernetes node (the binary's version output, the OS package database, image layers), and check whether the conditions above hold there. Distribution packages may carry a backported fix under an older version number; confirm against the distribution's own advisory. Verify against the linked advisories before concluding, and cite the date you read each one: - https://github.com/moby/moby/security/advisories/GHSA-6jhp-7446-hf7f Do not conclude an asset is unaffected unless you checked it and the evidence covers both its version and the conditions above. If you could not check something, mark it unknown and say what is missing. Report a table with one row per asset and these columns: Asset | Version or build | Status (affected, fixed, not applicable, unknown) | Compensating controls | Exposure (internet-facing, internal, none) | Evidence | Next action. Entry: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-115538 For follow-up questions, use the cve.now MCP server at https://mcp.cve.now/mcp (no authentication), for example get_vulnerability with id CVE-2026-115538.
Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
- Posted on X by cve.now
Affected versions
- Docker Docker Engine
fixed in 29.9.3
- github.com/moby/moby/v2
fixed in v2.0.0-beta.29
Evidence 3
Vendor advisory · 1
Establishes: Affected and fixed versions.
- Advisory
CVE record · 2
Establishes: The identifier and description.
- Record
- Record
Corrections
None so far.
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Questions about CVE-2026-115538
Is CVE-2026-115538 being exploited?
It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-115538?
Docker Engine: before 29.9.3. github.com/moby/moby/v2: before v2.0.0-beta.29.Source: cve.now feed data
How do I fix CVE-2026-115538?
Upgrade to a fixed version: Docker Engine 29.9.3 · Moby v2.0.0-beta.29.Source: cve.now feed data