Description
MLflow 3.17.1 and earlier contains a path traversal vulnerability in the FileStore tracking backend that allows unauthenticated attackers to control filesystem paths by submitting a crafted trace ID containing traversal sequences to the POST /api/3.0/mlflow/traces endpoint. Attackers can exploit FileStore.start_trace() to write trace_info.yaml, request_metadata, and tag files with attacker-controlled metadata outside the intended experiment trace directory, subject to the server process's filesystem permissions. FileStore is the default tracking backend before MLflow 3.7.0 and opt-in thereafter (the default changed to a SQLite database), so deployments in the earlier part of the affected range are vulnerable without special configuration while later ones are affected only when FileStore is explicitly selected.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| mlflow | mlflow | ≤ 3.17.1 | — |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
GitHub 1 repository
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SaiTeja-Erukude/CVE-2026-53995-mlflow-path-traversal ★ 0 · Oct 17, 2026
MLflow <=3.17.1 path traversal allows trace file writes outside the intended directory.
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | mlflow | < 3.17.2 | 3.17.2 | GHSA-wqmh-qccw-pqwf |
Advisories 1
- WID-SEC-2026-4031 MLflow: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Manipulation von Dateien BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 19, 2026
References
- Researcher Disclosure technical-description exploit
- Pull Request issue-tracking patch
- Patch Commit issue-tracking patch
- VulnCheck Advisory: MLflow 3.17.1 Path Traversal via Trace ID API third-party-advisory