Docker Web UI Security in 2026: Who Actually Publishes a Threat Model

Description and use

Choosing a secure Docker UI with rootless support and transparent threat modeling is difficult because most options lack documentation. The study found only Portainer and Rancher provide full documentation and rootless support, while Dockhand and Arcane offer valuable security artifacts. Exposing Docker over TCP does not mitigate root access risk. Recommendations vary by threat profile.

Problem

Choosing a Docker web UI with strong security, especially rootless support and documented threat models, is challenging because many options lack clear documentation or comprehensive security artifacts.

Outcome

The study revealed that only Portainer and Rancher provide comprehensive security documentation and rootless support. Dockhand and Arcane offer valuable security artifacts, while most other tools lack clear rootless guidance. Exposing Docker via TCP does not mitigate root access risk. Recommendations vary by threat model, from Portainer for home users to Rancher for enterprise Kubernetes deployments.

Workflow

• 1. Review each UI’s official docs for rootless Docker support, authentication methods, security documentation, and CVE processes.
• 2. Compile findings into a comparison matrix.
• 3. Highlight gaps such as lack of rootless documentation and limited security artifacts.
• 4. Provide recommendations based on risk profiles (home, small company, client workloads, supply chain focus, IaC preference).
• 5. Update own project (Stacker) with a SECURITY.md and plan to add rootless docs.

Evidence

Only Portainer explicitly documents rootless Docker support (with caveats)

Source

Rootless mode is a separate daemon configuration – the only meaningful mitigation for the "UI compromise = host root" risk.

Source

Rancher publishes CIS Benchmark alignment, kube-bench, SELinux packages, and public pentest reports.

Source