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The Socket Proxy is a security-enhanced proxy which allows you to apply access rules to the Docker socket, limiting the attack surface for containers such as watchtower or Traefik that need to use it.

We utilise the docker manifest for multi-platform awareness. More information is available from docker here and our announcement here.

Simply pulling lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest should retrieve the correct image for your arch, but you can also pull specific arch images via tags.

The architectures supported by this image are:

This container is conceptually based on https://github.com/Tecnativa/docker-socket-proxy and as such does not follow our usual container conventions. It does not support mods or custom scripts/services. It is designed to act as a drop-in replacement for the Tecnativa container.

The container should be run on the same docker network as the service(s) using it. Most containers that would normally connect to a mounted docker.sock can have their endpoint overridden using the DOCKER_HOST environment variable if they do not offer the option in their configuration; it should typically be pointed to tcp://socket-proxy:2375.

• Never expose this container's port to a public network. It should be treated the same way you would treat the docker socket or TCP endpoint.
• Revoke access to any API section that you consider your service should not need.
• To see the versions of the API your Docker daemon and client support, use docker version and check the API version.
• Read the docs for the API version you are using for an explanation of all the available endpoints.

Podman exposes two API groups on the same socket: the Docker-compatible API (controlled by the existing env vars above) and the libpod-native API prefixed with /libpod/. The LIBPOD_* environment variables control access to the libpod endpoints independently of their Docker-compat equivalents.

For example, to use prometheus-podman-exporter, enable:

- LIBPOD_CONTAINERS=1
- LIBPOD_INFO=1
- LIBPOD_NETWORKS=1
- LIBPOD_PODS=1
- LIBPOD_VOLUMES=1
- LIBPOD_IMAGES=1
- LIBPOD_EVENTS=1

Point the exporter at tcp://socket-proxy:2375 using CONTAINER_HOST. LIBPOD_PING and LIBPOD_VERSION are enabled by default (like their Docker-compat counterparts PING and VERSION).

Under rootless Podman the container process runs as root inside its user namespace by default. You can go a step further and drop root inside the container as well, running the proxy as an unprivileged user such as nobody (UID/GID 65534). Two things need to be handled for this to work:

• Socket ownership. The rootless Podman socket ($XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/podman/podman.sock) is owned by your host user. That user maps to root inside the container's namespace, so a non-root user in the container cannot read it. Use --userns=keep-id:uid=65534,gid=65534 to map your host user onto UID/GID 65534 inside the container, so nobody owns the socket and can proxy it.
• A writable /run. The entrypoint renders the HAProxy config into /run/haproxy at startup, so /run must be writable by the non-root user. Mount it as a tmpfs with mode=1777 (this also satisfies read-only operation).

Example podman run:

podman run -d \
  --name=socket-proxy \
  --user 65534:65534 \
  --userns=keep-id:uid=65534,gid=65534 \
  -e CONTAINERS=1 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_CONTAINERS=1 `#optional` \
  -e POST=0 `#optional` \
  -v $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/podman/podman.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
  -p 2375:2375 \
  --read-only \
  --tmpfs /run:rw,mode=1777 \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest

Or as a rootless Quadlet unit (~/.config/containers/systemd/socket-proxy.container), started with systemctl --user daemon-reload && systemctl --user start socket-proxy:

[Container]
ContainerName=socket-proxy
Image=lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest
User=65534:65534
UserNS=keep-id:uid=65534,gid=65534
Environment=CONTAINERS=1
Environment=LIBPOD_CONTAINERS=1
Environment=POST=0
Volume=%t/podman/podman.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
PublishPort=2375:2375
ReadOnly=true
Tmpfs=/run:rw,mode=1777

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

(%t expands to $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR.) Enable the socket first with systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket.

This image can be run with a read-only container filesystem. For details please read the docs.

To help you get started creating a container from this image you can either use docker compose or the docker cli.

---
services:
  socket-proxy:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest
    container_name: socket-proxy
    environment:
      - ALLOW_ARCHIVE=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_CHANGES=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_EXPORT=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_LOGS=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_PAUSE=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_RESTARTS=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_STOP=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_START=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_TOP=0 #optional
      - ALLOW_UNPAUSE=0 #optional
      - AUTH=0 #optional
      - BUILD=0 #optional
      - COMMIT=0 #optional
      - CONFIGS=0 #optional
      - CONTAINERS=0 #optional
      - DISABLE_IPV6=0 #optional
      - DISTRIBUTION=0 #optional
      - EVENTS=1 #optional
      - EXEC=0 #optional
      - IMAGES=0 #optional
      - INFO=0 #optional
      - LOG_LEVEL=info #optional
      - NETWORKS=0 #optional
      - NODES=0 #optional
      - PING=1 #optional
      - PLUGINS=0 #optional
      - POST=0 #optional
      - SECRETS=0 #optional
      - SERVICES=0 #optional
      - SESSION=0 #optional
      - SWARM=0 #optional
      - SYSTEM=0 #optional
      - TASKS=0 #optional
      - TZ=Etc/UTC #optional
      - VERSION=1 #optional
      - VOLUMES=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_CONTAINERS=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_EVENTS=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_EXEC=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_GENERATE=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_IMAGES=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_INFO=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_MANIFESTS=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_NETWORKS=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_PING=1 #optional
      - LIBPOD_PLAY=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_PODS=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_SECRETS=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_SYSTEM=0 #optional
      - LIBPOD_VERSION=1 #optional
      - LIBPOD_VOLUMES=0 #optional
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
    restart: unless-stopped
    read_only: true
    tmpfs:
      - /run

docker run -d \
  --name=socket-proxy \
  -e ALLOW_ARCHIVE=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_CHANGES=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_EXPORT=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_LOGS=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_PAUSE=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_RESTARTS=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_STOP=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_START=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_TOP=0 `#optional` \
  -e ALLOW_UNPAUSE=0 `#optional` \
  -e AUTH=0 `#optional` \
  -e BUILD=0 `#optional` \
  -e COMMIT=0 `#optional` \
  -e CONFIGS=0 `#optional` \
  -e CONTAINERS=0 `#optional` \
  -e DISTRIBUTION=0 `#optional` \
  -e DISABLE_IPV6=0 `#optional` \
  -e EVENTS=1 `#optional` \
  -e EXEC=0 `#optional` \
  -e IMAGES=0 `#optional` \
  -e INFO=0 `#optional` \
  -e LOG_LEVEL=info `#optional` \
  -e NETWORKS=0 `#optional` \
  -e NODES=0 `#optional` \
  -e PING=1 `#optional` \
  -e PLUGINS=0 `#optional` \
  -e POST=0 `#optional` \
  -e SECRETS=0 `#optional` \
  -e SERVICES=0 `#optional` \
  -e SESSION=0 `#optional` \
  -e SWARM=0 `#optional` \
  -e SYSTEM=0 `#optional` \
  -e TASKS=0 `#optional` \
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC `#optional` \
  -e VERSION=1 `#optional` \
  -e VOLUMES=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_CONTAINERS=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_EVENTS=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_EXEC=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_GENERATE=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_IMAGES=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_INFO=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_MANIFESTS=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_NETWORKS=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_PING=1 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_PLAY=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_PODS=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_SECRETS=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_SYSTEM=0 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_VERSION=1 `#optional` \
  -e LIBPOD_VOLUMES=0 `#optional` \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --read-only \
  --tmpfs /run \
  lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest

Containers are configured using parameters passed at runtime (such as those above). These parameters are separated by a colon and indicate <external>:<internal> respectively. For example, -p 8080:80 would expose port 80 from inside the container to be accessible from the host's IP on port 8080 outside the container.

• Shell access whilst the container is running:

docker exec -it socket-proxy /bin/sh

• To monitor the logs of the container in realtime:

docker logs -f socket-proxy

• Container version number:

docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' socket-proxy

• Image version number:

docker inspect -f '{{ index .Config.Labels "build_version" }}' lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest

Most of our images are static, versioned, and require an image update and container recreation to update the app inside. With some exceptions (noted in the relevant readme.md), we do not recommend or support updating apps inside the container. Please consult the Application Setup section above to see if it is recommended for the image.

Below are the instructions for updating containers:

• Update images:

  • All images:

  docker compose pull

  • Single image:

  docker compose pull socket-proxy

• Update containers:

  • All containers:

  docker compose up -d

  • Single container:

  docker compose up -d socket-proxy

• You can also remove the old dangling images:

docker image prune

• Update the image:

docker pull lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest

• Stop the running container:

docker stop socket-proxy

• Delete the container:

docker rm socket-proxy

• You can also remove the old dangling images:

docker image prune

If you want to make local modifications to these images for development purposes or just to customize the logic:

git clone https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-socket-proxy.git
cd docker-socket-proxy
docker build \
  --no-cache \
  --pull \
  -t lscr.io/linuxserver/socket-proxy:latest .

The ARM variants can be built on x86_64 hardware and vice versa using lscr.io/linuxserver/docker-qemu-static

docker run --rm --privileged lscr.io/linuxserver/docker-qemu-static --reset

Once registered you can define the dockerfile to use with -f Dockerfile.aarch64.

• 18.08.26: - Add ALLOW_ARCHIVE, ALLOW_CHANGES, ALLOW_EXPORT, ALLOW_LOGS, ALLOW_TOP options.
• 15.06.26: - Rebase to Alpine 3.24.
• 13.06.26: - Add libpod API support for Podman via LIBPOD_* environment variables.
• 24.02.26: - Add ALLOW_PAUSE and ALLOW_UNPAUSE.
• 26.12.25: - Rebase to Alpine 3.23.
• 19.08.25: - Add tzdata for localised logging timestamps.
• 03.06.25: - Rebase to Alpine 3.22. Add RISCV support.
• 08.04.25: - Add LOG_LEVEL back.
• 06.04.25: - Switch back to haproxy for better handling of docker exec connection hijacking.
• 02.01.25: - Support custom read timeout values.
• 05.12.24: - Rebase to Alpine 3.21.
• 26.08.24: - Change ALLOW_START, ALLOW_STOP, and ALLOW_RESTARTS to work even with POST=0.
• 24.05.24: - Rebase to Alpine 3.20.
• 15.04.24: - Allow disabling IPv6 support for legacy devices.
• 08.04.24: - Use nginx due to haproxy's wonky websockets handling.
• 07.04.24: - Initial Release.