How severe is CVE-2026-55488?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2026-55488 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-55488?

CVE-2026-55488 affects the following packages: motioneye (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix CVE-2026-55488?

Update motioneye to 0.44.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-55488 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2026-55488 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for motioneye, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2026-55488 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Is CVE-2026-55488 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2026-55488 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2026-55488?

CVE-2026-55488 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.6%, placing it in the 49th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2026-55488?

CVE-2026-55488 is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2026-55488 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2026-55488 was published on June 24, 2026 and was last updated on August 12, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍 PyPI

Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2026-55488 — motioneye

CVE-2026-55488 is a Path Traversal vulnerability in motioneye. A fix is available for motioneye — see the affected versions and patch details below.

motionEye's Absolute Path Traversal in Media File Handlers Allows Arbitrary File Read

Also known asGHSA-rw9q-97r9-8gvhPYSEC-2026-2667

Published

Jun 24, 2026

Updated

Aug 12, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 14, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

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-2026-55488.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs49th percentile — riskier than 49% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐍motioneye

Real-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

Summary

mEye contains an absolute path traversal vulnerability in multiple media file handlers that allows an attacker to read arbitrary files from the filesystem.

The affected handlers accept a user-controlled filename parameter and construct filesystem paths using os.path.join(). When an absolute path is supplied, Python discards the configured media directory and returns the attacker-supplied path directly. The application then bypasses Tornado's built-in path validation by overriding the relevant safety checks.

As a result, an attacker can access files outside of the configured camera media directory, subject to the permissions of the motionEye process.

Details

The issue exists in the media playback and download functionality.

The filename parameter is passed to mediafiles.get_media_path():

def get_media_path(camera_config, path, media_type):
    target_dir = camera_config.get('target_dir')
    full_path = os.path.join(target_dir, path)
    return full_path

When path is an absolute path (e.g. /etc/motioneye/motion.conf), Python's os.path.join() discards target_dir entirely and returns the absolute path as-is. This would normally be caught by Tornado's StaticFileHandler path validation, but MoviePlaybackHandler explicitly overrides both safety checks (movie_playback.py lines 111-115):

def get_absolute_path(self, root, path):
    return path

def validate_absolute_path(self, root, absolute_path):
    return absolute_path

This allows reading any file on the filesystem that the motionEye process can access.

The same path traversal exists in the movie download, picture download, and picture preview handlers:

GET /movie/<camera_id>/download/<filename>
GET /picture/<camera_id>/download/<filename>
GET /picture/<camera_id>/preview/<filename>

PoC

GET /movie/1/playback//etc/motioneye/motion.conf HTTP/1.1
Host: target:8765

Fix

Do not allow absolute paths supplied by user input.

Validate that the fully resolved canonical path remains within the configured camera media directory before serving a file.

Additionally, Tornado’s built-in path validation should not be bypassed unless equivalent validation is performed by motionEye.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`motioneye`	all versions	0.44.0`pip install --upgrade 'motioneye==0.44.0'`

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for motioneye, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update motioneye to 0.44.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-55488 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Summary mEye contains an absolute path traversal vulnerability in multiple media file handlers that allows an attacker to read arbitrary files from the filesystem. The affected handlers accept a user-controlled filename parameter and construct filesystem paths using `os.path.join()`. When an absolute path is supplied, Python discards the configured media directory and returns the attacker-supplied path directly. The application then bypasses Tornado's built-in path validation by overriding the relevant safety checks. As a result, an attacker can access files outside of the configured ca

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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