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CVE-2026-55488 – Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read – motionEye prior to 0.44.0

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Summary

CVE-2026-55488 is a high-severity absolute path traversal vulnerability in motionEye (mEye), a web-based surveillance camera management interface, affecting all versions prior to 0.44.0. The flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to read arbitrary files from the host filesystem by supplying absolute paths to media file handler endpoints. It carries a CVSS 4.0 score of 7.7 (High) and a public proof-of-concept is available.

Technical details

  • Root cause: Multiple media file handlers invoke mediafiles.get_media_path(), which constructs filesystem paths using Python’s os.path.join(target_dir, path). When an attacker supplies an absolute path as the filename parameter, Python discards the configured media directory prefix entirely and returns the attacker-supplied path directly.
  • Tornado bypass: The application overrides Tornado’s built-in path safety methods — get_absolute_path() and validate_absolute_path() — in the MoviePlaybackHandler without implementing equivalent security checks, nullifying the web framework’s protections.
  • Affected endpoints: GET /movie/<camera_id>/playback/, GET /movie/<camera_id>/download/, GET /picture/<camera_id>/download/, and GET /picture/<camera_id>/preview/.
  • Attack vector: Network-reachable, no authentication required (Privileges Required: None), no user interaction needed.
  • Impact: Unauthenticated reading of arbitrary files from the filesystem, constrained only by the OS-level permissions of the motionEye process. Accessible sensitive files include system credential and configuration files.

Affected software

  • motionEye (motioneye-project/motioneye) — all versions prior to 0.44.0

Severity

  • CVSS 4.0 Base Score: 7.7 (High)
  • Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
  • Weakness: CWE-22 – Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory (Path Traversal)

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade motionEye to version 0.44.0 or later, which resolves the issue by rejecting absolute paths in user input and ensuring resolved canonical paths remain within the configured media directory.
  • If immediate patching is not possible: Restrict network access to the motionEye web interface — place it behind a firewall or VPN to prevent direct internet exposure. Additionally, ensure the motionEye process runs under a dedicated least-privilege user account rather than root, to limit the scope of readable files.

IONIX Status

The IONIX research team is tracking ongoing exploitation attempts and recommends immediate patching. Potentially affected assets are outlined in this post.

References

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