CVE-2025-30206: Hardcoded JWT Secret Exploitation in Dpanel Docker Management System

Overview

The vulnerability CVE-2025-30206 pertains to the Dpanel Docker management system. Docker is a popular platform used by developers for creating, deploying, and running applications by using containers. However, a significant security flaw resides in the Dpanel service, a visualization panel system for Docker, which could potentially put thousands of Docker users at risk.
The criticality of this vulnerability stems from the hardcoded JWT secret in Dpanel’s default configuration, which creates an opportunity for attackers to generate valid JWT tokens and compromise the host machine. The exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to severe consequences, including unauthorized administrative access, sensitive data exposure, and further lateral movement within the network environment.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-30206
Severity: Critical (9.8 CVSS score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Dpanel | Up to 1.6.0

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of a hardcoded JWT secret in the default configuration of Dpanel. By analyzing the source code, attackers can discover this hardcoded secret. With this secret, they can craft legitimate JWT tokens, thus bypassing authentication mechanisms and impersonating privileged users. Once an attacker gains unauthorized administrative access, they can gain full control over the host machine, potentially leading to severe consequences such as sensitive data exposure, unauthorized command execution, and further lateral movement within the network environment.

Conceptual Example Code

The following pseudocode provides a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited:

# Import necessary libraries
import jwt
# Hardcoded secret from Dpanel's source code
hardcoded_secret = 'hardcoded_secret'
# Payload with admin privileges
payload = {'user':'admin', 'privileges':'all'}
# Create JWT token using the hardcoded secret
token = jwt.encode(payload, hardcoded_secret, algorithm='HS256')
# Use this token for subsequent requests
headers = {'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + token}
# Now, an attacker can make requests with admin privileges
response = requests.get('http://target.example.com/admin_panel', headers=headers)

In the above example, an attacker creates a JWT token using the hardcoded secret found in the Dpanel’s source code. This token is then used in the ‘Authorization’ header to make requests to the target server, thereby gaining unauthorized access to the admin panel.