This is a very well-written explanation.
The only exception is when people have access to the underlying container, willing or not. Then these vulnerable binaries can lead to a vulnerable container.
This is also why the subjectivity in CVE rating is such a significant problem.
This is why many people can get away with a minimal base image like Alphine-- a tiny busybox shell provides enough features to run the application while still supporting some manual debugging with docker exec. It also avoids false positives like these, letting you more quickly find precisely what you need to upgrade when a new OpenSSL vulnerability is announced.
(Disclaimer: I work on Google Container Engine / Kubernetes).