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9.8
CVE-2026-59178: ESPHome Device Builder dashboard may become open after upgrade
CVE-2026-59178 · published 7 days ago
Summary
If you upgraded ESPHome Device Builder to version 1.0.12 or later and were using the old environment variables USERNAME and PASSWORD to protect the dashboard, the authentication stops working and the dashboard becomes accessible to anyone on the network. Update the variables to ESPHOME_USERNAME and ESPHOME_PASSWORD, or apply the new version that still accepts the old names with a warning. After fixing the variables, the dashboard will be secured again.
What to do
- Update the esphome authors esphome-device-builder to version 1.0.12.
- Update esphome-device-builder to version 1.0.12.
Affected software
| Ecosystem | Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | esphome | device-builder | < 1.0.12 |
| pip | the esphome authors | esphome-device-builder |
< 1.0.12 Fix: upgrade to 1.0.12
|
| pip | – | esphome-device-builder |
< 1.0.12 Fix: upgrade to 1.0.12
|
Original advisory text
ESPHome Device Builder: Renamed auth env vars silently disable dashboard authentication on upgrade
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.
References
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/security/advisories/GHSA-rrxg-g2pf-6hh... Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/pull/1625 Patch
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/commit/9e294f729c3eb7334bb57b9fc49b75b... Patch
- https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/releases/tag/1.0.12 URL
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rrxg-g2pf-6hh4
- https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/59xxx/CVE-2026-59178... Vendor Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-59178 Vendor Advisory
Severity
9.8
Critical
CVSS 3.1: 9.8 (MITRE)
Exploitation
EPSS <1%
Type
CWE-306Missing Authentication for Critical Function
Timeline
Published14 Sep 2026
Updated22 Sep 2026
First seen14 Sep 2026
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