diff --git a/dev-packages/application-manager/src/generator/webpack-generator.ts b/dev-packages/application-manager/src/generator/webpack-generator.ts
index 0eeb0b38dc269..2db2258a524c6 100644
--- a/dev-packages/application-manager/src/generator/webpack-generator.ts
+++ b/dev-packages/application-manager/src/generator/webpack-generator.ts
@@ -437,6 +437,8 @@ const config = {
         ${this.ifPackage('@theia/git', () => `// Ensure the git locator process can the started
         'git-locator-host': require.resolve('@theia/git/lib/node/git-locator/git-locator-host'),`)}
         ${this.ifElectron("'electron-main': require.resolve('./src-gen/backend/electron-main'),")}
+        ${this.ifPackage('@theia/dev-container', () => `// VS Code Dev-Container communication:
+        'dev-container-server': require.resolve('@theia/dev-container/lib/dev-container-server/dev-container-server'),`)}
         ...commonJsLibraries
     },
     module: {
diff --git a/packages/dev-container/src/dev-container-server/dev-container-server.ts b/packages/dev-container/src/dev-container-server/dev-container-server.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0e477150539a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/dev-container/src/dev-container-server/dev-container-server.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// *****************************************************************************
+// Copyright (C) 2024 Typefox and others.
+//
+// This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+// terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0 which is available at
+// http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0.
+//
+// This Source Code may also be made available under the following Secondary
+// Licenses when the conditions for such availability set forth in the Eclipse
+// Public License v. 2.0 are satisfied: GNU General Public License, version 2
+// with the GNU Classpath Exception which is available at
+// https://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html.
+//
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 OR GPL-2.0-only WITH Classpath-exception-2.0
+// *****************************************************************************
+
+import { createConnection } from 'net';
+import { stdin, argv, stdout } from 'process';
+
+/**
+ * this node.js Program is supposed to be executed by an docker exec session inside a docker container.
+ * It uses a tty session to listen on stdin and send on stdout all communication with the theia backend running inside the container.
+ */
+
+let backendPort: number | undefined = undefined;
+argv.slice(2).forEach(arg => {
+    if (arg.startsWith('-target-port')) {
+        backendPort = parseInt(arg.split('=')[1]);
+    }
+});
+
+if (!backendPort) {
+    throw new Error('please start with -target-port={port number}');
+}
+if (stdin.isTTY) {
+    stdin.setRawMode(true);
+}
+const connection = createConnection(backendPort, '0.0.0.0');
+
+connection.pipe(stdout);
+stdin.pipe(connection);
+
+connection.on('error', error => {
+    console.error('connection error', error);
+});
+
+connection.on('close', () => {
+    console.log('connection closed');
+    process.exit(0);
+});
+
+// keep the process running
+setInterval(() => { }, 1 << 30);
diff --git a/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/docker-container-service.ts b/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/docker-container-service.ts
index eee84127f0bf4..59fa62585317a 100644
--- a/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/docker-container-service.ts
+++ b/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/docker-container-service.ts
@@ -81,11 +81,11 @@ export class DockerContainerService {
         const containerCreateOptions: Docker.ContainerCreateOptions = {
             Tty: true,
             ExposedPorts: {
-                [`${port}/tcp`]: {},
+                // [`${port}/tcp`]: {},
             },
             HostConfig: {
                 PortBindings: {
-                    [`${port}/tcp`]: [{ HostPort: '0' }],
+                    // [`${port}/tcp`]: [{ HostPort: '0' }],
                 },
                 Mounts: [{
                     Source: workspace.path.toString(),
diff --git a/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/remote-container-connection-provider.ts b/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/remote-container-connection-provider.ts
index 97b6921d4af99..7b1bf7e069c53 100644
--- a/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/remote-container-connection-provider.ts
+++ b/packages/dev-container/src/electron-node/remote-container-connection-provider.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 import * as net from 'net';
 import { ContainerConnectionOptions, ContainerConnectionResult, RemoteContainerConnectionProvider } from '../electron-common/remote-container-connection-provider';
 import { RemoteConnection, RemoteExecOptions, RemoteExecResult, RemoteExecTester, RemoteStatusReport } from '@theia/remote/lib/electron-node/remote-types';
-import { RemoteSetupService } from '@theia/remote/lib/electron-node/setup/remote-setup-service';
+import { RemoteSetupResult, RemoteSetupService } from '@theia/remote/lib/electron-node/setup/remote-setup-service';
 import { RemoteConnectionService } from '@theia/remote/lib/electron-node/remote-connection-service';
 import { RemoteProxyServerProvider } from '@theia/remote/lib/electron-node/remote-proxy-server-provider';
 import { Emitter, Event, MessageService } from '@theia/core';
@@ -70,11 +70,13 @@ export class DevContainerConnectionProvider implements RemoteContainerConnection
             report('Connecting to remote system...');
 
             const remote = await this.createContainerConnection(container, dockerConnection, port);
-            await this.remoteSetup.setup({
+            const result = await this.remoteSetup.setup({
                 connection: remote,
                 report,
                 nodeDownloadTemplate: options.nodeDownloadTemplate
             });
+            remote.remoteSetupResult = result;
+
             const registration = this.remoteConnectionService.register(remote);
             const server = await this.serverProvider.getProxyServer(socket => {
                 remote.forwardOut(socket);
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@ export class DevContainerConnectionProvider implements RemoteContainerConnection
             type: 'container',
             docker,
             container,
-            port
+            port,
         }));
     }
 
@@ -142,6 +144,8 @@ export class RemoteDockerContainerConnection implements RemoteConnection {
 
     containerInfo: Docker.ContainerInspectInfo | undefined;
 
+    remoteSetupResult: RemoteSetupResult;
+
     protected activeTerminalSession: ContainerTerminalSession | undefined;
 
     protected readonly onDidDisconnectEmitter = new Emitter<void>();
@@ -159,13 +163,20 @@ export class RemoteDockerContainerConnection implements RemoteConnection {
     }
 
     async forwardOut(socket: Socket): Promise<void> {
-        if (!this.containerInfo) {
-            this.containerInfo = await this.container.inspect();
+        const node = `${this.remoteSetupResult.nodeDirectory}/bin/node`;
+        const devContainerServer = `${this.remoteSetupResult.applicationDirectory}/backend/dev-container-server.js`;
+        try {
+            const ttySession = await this.container.exec({
+                Cmd: ['sh', '-c', `${node} ${devContainerServer} -target-port=${this.remotePort}`],
+                AttachStdin: true, AttachStdout: true, AttachStderr: true
+            });
+            const stream = await ttySession.start({ hijack: true, stdin: true });
+
+            socket.pipe(stream);
+            ttySession.modem.demuxStream(stream, socket, socket);
+        } catch (e) {
+            console.error(e);
         }
-        const portMapping = this.containerInfo.NetworkSettings.Ports[`${this.remotePort}/tcp`][0];
-        const connectSocket = new Socket({ readable: true, writable: true }).connect(parseInt(portMapping.HostPort), portMapping.HostIp);
-        socket.pipe(connectSocket);
-        connectSocket.pipe(socket);
     }
 
     async exec(cmd: string, args?: string[], options?: RemoteExecOptions): Promise<RemoteExecResult> {
diff --git a/packages/remote/src/electron-node/setup/remote-setup-service.ts b/packages/remote/src/electron-node/setup/remote-setup-service.ts
index 546695d9ecc15..951f62429da8f 100644
--- a/packages/remote/src/electron-node/setup/remote-setup-service.ts
+++ b/packages/remote/src/electron-node/setup/remote-setup-service.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ export interface RemoteSetupOptions {
     nodeDownloadTemplate?: string;
 }
 
+export interface RemoteSetupResult {
+    applicationDirectory: string;
+    nodeDirectory: string;
+}
+
 @injectable()
 export class RemoteSetupService {
 
@@ -47,7 +52,7 @@ export class RemoteSetupService {
     @inject(ApplicationPackage)
     protected readonly applicationPackage: ApplicationPackage;
 
-    async setup(options: RemoteSetupOptions): Promise<void> {
+    async setup(options: RemoteSetupOptions): Promise<RemoteSetupResult> {
         const {
             connection,
             report,
@@ -86,6 +91,10 @@ export class RemoteSetupService {
         report('Starting application on remote...');
         const port = await this.startApplication(connection, platform, applicationDirectory, remoteNodeDirectory);
         connection.remotePort = port;
+        return {
+            applicationDirectory: libDir,
+            nodeDirectory: remoteNodeDirectory
+        };
     }
 
     protected async startApplication(connection: RemoteConnection, platform: RemotePlatform, remotePath: string, nodeDir: string): Promise<number> {