CVE-2024-51998 Path traversal using file URI scheme without supplying hostname in changedetection.io

What is CVE-2024-51998?

CVE-2024-51998 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in dgtlmoon changedetection.io, published on 7 Nov 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official 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.

Weakness: CWE-22

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-51998?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including changedetection.io and changedetection-io.

How do I fix CVE-2024-51998?

Upgrade changedetection.io to 0.47.6 or later.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2024-51998 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-51998 exists.

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-6jrf-rcjf-245r, PYSEC-2026-1239.