---
id: CVE-2026-53995
title: MLflow 3.17.1 Path Traversal via Trace ID API
summary: >-
  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 …
severity: high
cvss: 8.2
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-22
vendor: mlflow
product: mlflow
affected:
  - mlflow <= 3.17.1
ssvc:
  exploitation: poc
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-10-19T21:36:41.493578Z'
exploitAvailable: true
published: '2026-10-19'
updated: '2026-10-19'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-19T21:36:51.558Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53995'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/SaiTeja-Erukude/CVE-2026-53995-mlflow-path-traversal'
    label: Researcher Disclosure
  - url: 'https://github.com/mlflow/mlflow/pull/26842'
    label: Proposed Pull Request
  - url: >-
      https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/mlflow-path-traversal-via-trace-id-api
    label: 'VulnCheck Advisory: MLflow 3.17.1 Path Traversal via Trace ID API'
tags:
  - cve.org
  - exploit-available
exploits:
  github: 1
  githubRepos:
    - 'https://github.com/SaiTeja-Erukude/CVE-2026-53995-mlflow-path-traversal'
  checkedAt: '2026-10-19T21:44:30.564Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-10-19T21:43:56.111Z'
---

## Overview

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

- `mlflow <= 3.17.1`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.