esphome device-builder up to 1.0.11 Dashboard improper authentication

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in esphome device-builder up to 1.0.11. The affected element is an unknown function of the component Dashboard. The manipulation of the argument ESPHOME_USERNAME/ESPHOME_PASSWORD/USERNAME/PASSWORD leads to improper authentication. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-59178. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in esphome device-builder up to 1.0.11 and classified as critical. This issue affects an unknown code of the component Dashboard. The manipulation of the argument ESPHOME_USERNAME/ESPHOME_PASSWORD/USERNAME/PASSWORD with an unknown input leads to a improper authentication vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-287. When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

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.

The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-59178 since 07/02/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 1.0.12 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• esphome

Name

• device-builder

Version

• 1.0.0
• 1.0.1
• 1.0.2
• 1.0.3
• 1.0.4
• 1.0.5
• 1.0.6
• 1.0.7
• 1.0.8
• 1.0.9
• 1.0.10
• 1.0.11

Website

• Product: https://github.com/esphome/device-builder/

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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