CVE-2025-62725: docker compose Path Traversal

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-62725 is a high (CVSS 8.9) Path Traversal vulnerability in docker compose. EPSS estimates a 13.70% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 96.4% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 27-10-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 28-10-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Docker Compose trusts the path information embedded in remote OCI compose artifacts. When a layer includes the annotations com.docker.compose.extends or com.docker.compose.envfile, Compose joins the attacker‑supplied value from com.docker.compose.file/com.docker.compose.envfile with its local cache directory and writes the file there. This affects any platform or workflow that resolves remote OCI compose artifacts, Docker Desktop, standalone Compose binaries on Linux, CI/CD runners, cloud dev environments is affected. An attacker can escape the cache directory and overwrite arbitrary files on the machine running docker compose, even if the user only runs read‑only commands such as docker compose config or docker compose ps. This issue is fixed in v2.40.2.

• CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.