

#Docker run image as daemon series
Docker daemon listens for REST API requests and performs a series of container operations accordingly. It is a self-sufficient runtime that manages Docker objects such as images, containers, network, and storage. Four categories of the observed malicious activities Docker Daemonĭocker daemon is a persistent background process that manages the containers on a single host. Obtain Sensitive Information from the Docker Log.Īdversaries scrape the Docker logs to find sensitive information such as credentials and configurations.įigure 1.Malicious payloads are then downloaded and executed inside the benign containers.Īdversaries mount the entire host file system to a container and access the host file system from the container.
#Docker run image as daemon download

One interesting tactic we frequently saw was attackers mounted the entire host file system to a container and accessed the host operating system (OS) from the container to read/write from it. Sensitive information, such as application credentials and infrastructure configuration were also found from the exposed logs. While the majority of the malicious activities involved cryptojacking (mostly mining for Monero), some compromised Docker engines were used for launching other attacks or installing rootkits on the hosts. While the technology is quickly evolving and being adopted, it also becomes a valuable target for adversaries. The Docker team worked quickly in tandem with Unit 42 to remove the malicious images once our team alerted them to this operation.Ĭontainer technology has gained enormous popularity in the past few years and is becoming the de facto way for packaging, delivering, and deploying modern applications.

In total, 1,400 unsecured Docker hosts, 8,673 active containers, and 17,927 Docker images were discovered in our research. Between September and December 2019, Unit 42 researchers periodically scanned and collected metadata from Docker hosts exposed to the internet (largely due to inadvertent user errors) and this research reveals some of the tactics and techniques used by attackers in the compromised Docker engines.
