CVE-2024-51998 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.6) Path Traversal vulnerability in changedetection-io. A fix is available for changedetection-io — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path traversal using file URI scheme without supplying hostname in changedetection.io
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-51998.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-51998 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
changedetection-ioReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
changedetection.io is a free open source web page change detection tool. The validation for the file URI scheme falls short, and results in an attacker being able to read any file on the system. This issue only affects instances with a webdriver enabled, and ALLOW_FILE_URI false or not defined. The check used for URL protocol, is_safe_url, allows file: as a URL scheme. It later checks if local files are permitted, but one of the preconditions for the check is that the URL starts with file://. The issue comes with the fact that the file URI scheme is not required to have double slashes. This issue has been addressed in version 0.47.06 and all users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | changedetection-io | all versions | 0.47.6pip install --upgrade 'changedetection-io==0.47.6' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for changedetection-io, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update changedetection-io to 0.47.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-51998 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-51998 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-51998. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-51998 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-51998 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.