CVE-2024-8859 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-29 vulnerability in mlflow. A fix is available for mlflow — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path Traversal in mlflow/mlflow
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-2024-8859.
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-2024-8859 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 378,567 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
mlflowReal-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
A path traversal vulnerability exists in mlflow/mlflow version 2.15.1. When users configure and use the dbfs service, concatenating the URL directly into the file protocol results in an arbitrary file read vulnerability. This issue occurs because only the path part of the URL is checked, while parts such as query and parameters are not handled. The vulnerability is triggered if the user has configured the dbfs service, and during usage, the service is mounted to a local directory.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | mlflow | all versions | 2.17.0rc0pip install --upgrade 'mlflow==2.17.0rc0' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for mlflow, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update mlflow to 2.17.0rc0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-8859 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-2024-8859 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-8859. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
How to detect CVE-2024-8859
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2024-8859 -u https://target- Template
- Mlflow < 2.17.0 - Local File Inclusion
- Severity
- critical
- Impact
- Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to read sensitive files on the server.
- Remediation
- Upgrade Mlflow to version 2.17.0 or later to mitigate the vulnerability.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (gy741), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-8859 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-8859 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.