# Docker Security Cheat Sheet — RULE \#1 - Do not expose the Docker daemon socket (even to the containers)

> Docker socket _/var/run/docker.sock_ is the UNIX socket that Docker is listening to.

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-owasp-38aacd9137efa68fa730>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:31:34.252562+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `owasp`, `cheatsheets`, `docker`, `security`, `cheat`, `sheet`, `rule`, `not`, `expose`, `daemon`, `socket`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/OWASP/CheatSheetSeries/blob/07111ee754e832e335377ac64fd0f8f848d9029c/cheatsheets/Docker_Security_Cheat_Sheet.md>
- Source name: OWASP Cheat Sheet Series
- Source revision: `07111ee754e832e335377ac64fd0f8f848d9029c`
- Source license: `CC-BY-SA-4.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

Docker socket _/var/run/docker.sock_ is the UNIX socket that Docker is listening to. This is the primary entry point for the Docker API. The owner of this socket is root. Giving someone access to it is equivalent to giving unrestricted root access to your host.

Do not enable _tcp_ Docker daemon socket. If you are running docker daemon with -H tcp://0.0.0.0:XXX or similar you are exposing unencrypted and unauthenticated direct access to the Docker daemon, if the host is internet connected this means the docker daemon on your computer can be used by anyone from the public internet. If you really, really have to do this, you should secure it. Check how to do this following Docker official documentation.

Do not expose _/var/run/docker.sock_ to other containers. If you are running your docker image with -v /var/run/docker.sock://var/run/docker.sock or similar, you should change it. Remember that mounting the socket read-only is not a solution but only makes it harder to exploit. Equivalent in the docker compose file is something like this

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```yaml
volumes:
  - "/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"
```

Attribution: Adapted from OWASP Cheat Sheet Series under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.