Medium

motionEye's missing authentication on ActionHandler allows unauthenticated camera action execution

  • Disclosed: 23.06.2026
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 14:18

Summary

The ActionHandler.post() method in motionEye has no authentication decorator, allowing any unauthenticated attacker to trigger camera actions including snapshots, recording start/stop, and configured action scripts (PTZ controls, alarm triggers, etc.).

Vulnerability Details

File: motioneye/handlers/action.py — ActionHandler.post() line 36 CWE: CWE-862 — Missing Authorization CVSS: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N = 5.3 Medium

Vulnerable Code

python
class ActionHandler(BaseHandler):
    async def post(self, camera_id, action):   # ← NO @BaseHandler.auth() decorator
        camera_id = int(camera_id)
        if camera_id not in config.get_camera_ids():
            raise HTTPError(404, 'no such camera')
        ...
        if action == 'snapshot':
            await self.snapshot(camera_id)   # executed without auth
            return
        elif action == 'record_start':
            return self.record_start(camera_id)
        elif action == 'record_stop':
            return self.record_stop(camera_id)

        action_commands = config.get_action_commands(local_config)
        command = action_commands.get(action)
        ...
        self.run_command_bg(command)   # executes predefined shell scripts

Compare with other handlers that correctly require authentication:

python
@BaseHandler.auth(admin=True)   # ← properly protected
async def delete(self, camera_id, filename):
    ...

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Deploy motionEye with at least one camera configured
  2. Send unauthenticated POST:
POST /action/1/snapshot HTTP/1.1
Host: motioneye-host:8765
Content-Length: 0
  1. Observe {} (HTTP 200) response — snapshot triggered without any credentials

For action scripts (lock, unlock, alarm_on, alarm_off, light_on, etc.):

POST /action/1/alarm_on HTTP/1.1
Host: motioneye-host:8765

Impact

  • Unauthenticated attacker can trigger camera snapshots on demand
  • Unauthenticated attacker can start/stop video recording
  • If action scripts are configured by admin: attacker can trigger PTZ movement, alarm control, lighting changes — physical security bypass
  • Via remote cameras: SSRF by triggering action on a remote motionEye server

Verification

Dynamically confirmed on v0.43.1 in Docker lab — POST /action/2/snapshot with no credentials returns HTTP 200 {}. Server log shows the action was processed (failed only because motion daemon was not running for the test camera, not due to an auth rejection).

Recommended Fix

python
class ActionHandler(BaseHandler):
    @BaseHandler.auth()   # add authentication requirement
    async def post(self, camera_id, action):
        ...

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) motioneye < 0.44.0 0.44.0

References

CVSS score 5.3/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-862
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
motioneye
Disclosed
23.06.2026
Updated
11.10.2026 14:18

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2026-2665 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-j67x-q29f-qcvv - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: motioneye

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (11) in the archive
Total entries
11
First → latest
02.2022 06.2026
Without a fix
1
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 3
  • High 5
  • Medium 3

Disclosures per year

  1. 2022: 2
  2. 2023: 0
  3. 2024: 0
  4. 2025: 2
  5. 2026: 7
Severity:
  1. motionEye's missing authentication on ActionHandler allows unauthenticated camera action execution this entry
    Medium · 5.3 CVE-2026-55863 < 0.44.0 0.44.0
  2. Critical CVE-2026-46488 < 0.44.0 0.44.0
  3. High · 7.2 CVE-2025-60787 < 0.43.1b5 0.43.1b5
  4. High CVE-2025-47782 >= 0.43.1b1, < 0.43.1b4 0.43.1b4
  5. High · 7.2 CVE-2021-44255 <= 0.42.1 no fix

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