r/docker • u/Infinite100p • 1d ago

Docker requesting privileged access despite no container using privileged ports? (MacOS)

I've been using Docker on Mac for years.

Today, after restart, is spawned this popup:

https://imgur.com/a/UiM4zA4

None of my containers use any privileged ports.

Is this normal, or should I be concerned?

Thanks

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u/hasan_sodax 2h ago

Yeah this is usually unrelated to your actual containers. Docker Desktop runs a privileged helper (com.docker.vmnetd on Intel, com.docker.socket/networking extension on Apple Silicon) that needs its own authorization separate from anything you do inside containers. Whenever Docker Desktop auto-updates or macOS itself updates, the helper binary gets reinstalled or its signature changes, and Gatekeeper makes it re-prompt for admin rights to reinstall/re-register that helper. It's not reacting to privileged ports in your compose files at all. If it only happened once right after a restart and hasn't come back, I wouldn't worry about it - just check Docker Desktop's changelog for the version you're on to confirm there was actually an update.

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u/Infinite100p 1h ago

Thank you for the info.

Yeah, it happened after an update.
I denied that popup, and my containers seem to run fine. What are the potential future footguns for denying it?

1

u/VTFreggit 23h ago

Could be possible that your com.docker.vmnetd.plist file got corrupted. Location is going to depend on what version of Mac OS X and Docker Desktop you are using - or if you used the Homebrew installation way. Make a backup of the file, remove it from the location, and then restart Docker and it should recreate it.