CVE-2026-59178ESPHome Device Builder: Renamed auth env vars silently disable dashboard authentication on upgrade
- 9.8CriticalCVSS base score
- 0.78%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 44% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
ESPHome Device Builder Dashboard is a dashboard for the ESPHome home management software. Prior to version 1.0.12, the dashboard reads its authentication credentials from `$ESPHOME_USERNAME` and `$ESPHOME_PASSWORD`. Earlier versions, and the legacy `esphome` dashboard, read the bare `$USERNAME` and `$PASSWORD` instead. When the env vars were renamed the bare names were dropped with no fallback, so an operator who had protected their dashboard with `USERNAME` / `PASSWORD` (as the older getting started guide documented) loses authentication on upgrade and the dashboard starts open to anyone who can reach its port. The issue is fixed in 1.0.12. The bare `$USERNAME` / `$PASSWORD` are accepted again as a deprecated fallback so previously protected instances stay protected across the upgrade without operator intervention, with a loud deprecation warning at startup directing operators to rename them to `$ESPHOME_USERNAME` / `$ESPHOME_PASSWORD`. The fallback is gated on `$PASSWORD` being set and is only adopted as a pair, so the OS provided `$USERNAME` is never read on its own and the original collision footgun stays closed. A lone bare `$PASSWORD` with no username still fails loud as a credential mismatch rather than starting unauthenticated. This restores compatibility rather than failing closed on the legacy names, because the priority is that an instance which was protected before the upgrade stays protected without the operator having to act; the deprecation warning plus a future removal handles the migration. Operators should migrate to the `$ESPHOME_*` names. The esphome container delivers the fix in the 2026.6.2 release, which bumps its pinned `esphome-device-builder` version to 1.0.12. Without upgrading, restore authentication immediately by setting the new env vars to the same values, on any affected version. Alternatively, do not expose the dashboard port to untrusted networks, and check the startup logs for the `WITHOUT AUTHENTICATION` banner to confirm whether a given instance is currently open.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 2 months later
· 2 months later
Published
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Awaiting Analysis | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.78% · top 44% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.8.
Affected products
- affected < 1.0.12
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIesphome-device-builderGHSA-rrxg-g2pf-6hh4 (opens in a new tab)
References
References4
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/security/advisories/GHSA-rrxg-g2pf-6hh4 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/pull/1625 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/commit/9e294f729c3eb7334bb57b9fc49b75b728052f52 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/releases/tag/1.0.12 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-77758 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-rrxg-g2pf-6hh4 (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-59178)Record last updated .