CVE-2017-20198

CRITICAL

DC/OS Marathon < 1.9.0 - Docker Root Mount Code Execution

Title source: manual
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 2 public exploits for CVE-2017-20198. PoCs published by Metasploit, including Metasploit module exploits/linux/http/dcos_marathon.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This Metasploit module exploits a vulnerability in DC/OS Marathon UI to create a Docker container with host filesystem access, allowing arbitrary file creation/modification as root via a cron job. It leverages Docker volume mounting to achieve privilege escalation on the host system.

Description

The Marathon UI in DC/OS < 1.9.0 allows unauthenticated users to deploy arbitrary Docker containers. Due to improper restriction of volume mount configurations, attackers can deploy a container that mounts the host's root filesystem (/) with read/write privileges. When using a malicious Docker image, the attacker can write to /etc/cron.d/ on the host, achieving arbitrary code execution with root privileges. This impacts any system where the Docker daemon honors Marathon container configurations without policy enforcement.

Exploits (2)

exploitdb WORKING POC VERIFIED
by Metasploit · rubyremotepython
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/42134

This Metasploit module exploits a vulnerability in DC/OS Marathon UI to create a Docker container with host filesystem access, allowing arbitrary file creation/modification as root via a cron job. It leverages Docker volume mounting to achieve privilege escalation on the host system.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: DC/OS Marathon UI (versions prior to patch)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Access to Marathon UI API · Valid Docker image from hub.docker.com · Available cluster resources
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC EXCELLENT
rubypocpython
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/linux/http/dcos_marathon.rb

This Metasploit module exploits a vulnerability in DC/OS Marathon UI to create a Docker container with host filesystem access, allowing an attacker to write a cron job for persistent remote code execution. It leverages Docker volume mounting to gain root-level file system manipulation on the host.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: DC/OS Marathon UI (versions affected by CVE-2017-20198)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Access to DC/OS Marathon UI · Valid Docker image from hub.docker.com · Available resources in the DC/OS cluster
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

Scores

CVSS v4 9.3
EPSS 0.7296
EPSS Percentile 98.8%
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation poc
Automatable yes
Technical Impact total

Details

CWE
CWE-732
Status published
Products (1)
D2iQ, Inc./DC/OS Marathon < 1.9.0
Published Jul 23, 2025
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026