CVE-2026-55488 motionEye's Absolute Path Traversal in Media File Handlers Allows Arbitrary File Read
An attacker can read arbitrary files from the filesystem by exploiting absolute path traversal in motionEye's media file handlers.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-55488?
CVE-2026-55488 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in motioneye-project motioneye, published on 24 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
motionEye (mEye) is an online interface for a piece of software called "motion," which is a video surveillance program with motion detection. Versions prior to 0.44.0 contain 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. Version 0.44.0 fixes the issue.
Weakness: CWE-22
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-55488?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including motioneye.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
motioneye PyPI | All versions | 0.44.0 |
motioneye PyPI | All versions | 0.44.0 |
motioneye PyPI | All versions | 0.44.0 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-55488?
Upgrade motioneye to 0.44.0 or later.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-55488 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-55488 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-rw9q-97r9-8gvh, PYSEC-2026-2667.