EZVIZ config flow crashes with UnicodeDecodeError when testing camera RTSP credentials

[soxfilippo]

The problem

When (re)configuring an EZVIZ camera and entering the camera's RTSP
verification code, the config flow fails with a generic "Unexpected
error" instead of completing. The camera's RTSP stream itself works
correctly — confirmed directly via the official EZVIZ mobile app, both
in normal live view and in "LAN Live View" — so this appears to be a
bug in the RTSP credential test step itself, not an actual
connectivity/credentials problem.

What version of Home Assistant Core has the issue?

2026.9.3

What was the last working version of Home Assistant Core?

Unknown

What type of installation are you running?

Home Assistant OS

Integration causing the issue

EZVIZ

Link to integration documentation on our website

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/ezviz/

Diagnostics information

Camera model: EZVIZ C8C, firmware V5.3.9 build 260702

Example YAML snippet

N/A (configured via the UI config flow)

Anything in the logs that might be useful for us?

Logger: homeassistant.components.ezviz.config_flow
Source: components/ezviz/config_flow.py:296
Integration: EZVIZ

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/ezviz/config_flow.py", line 296, in async_step_confirm
    return await self._validate_and_create_camera_rtsp(user_input)
  File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/ezviz/config_flow.py", line 133, in _validate_and_create_camera_rtsp
    await self.hass.async_add_executor_job(_login_wake_and_test)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/concurrent/futures/thread.py", line 86, in run
    result = ctx.run(self.task)
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/concurrent/futures/thread.py", line 73, in run
    return fn(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/ezviz/config_flow.py", line 131, in _login_wake_and_test
    _test_camera_rtsp_creds(data)
  File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/ezviz/config_flow.py", line 86, in _test_camera_rtsp_creds
    test_rtsp.main()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.14/site-packages/pyezvizapi/test_cam_rtsp.py", line 106, in main
    if msg1.decode().find("200 OK") > 1:
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xff in position 436: invalid start byte

Additional information

The RTSP stream works correctly when tested outside Home Assistant
(EZVIZ app, LAN Live View), which suggests the camera's real RTSP
response contains bytes that pyezvizapi's test_cam_rtsp.py fails to
decode as UTF-8, causing the config flow to crash instead of
completing or showing a clear validation error.

[home-assistant]

Hey there @RenierM26, mind taking a look at this issue as it has been labeled with an integration (ezviz) you are listed as a code owner for? Thanks!

Code owner commands

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@soxfilippo Thanks for reporting this issue!

Before we dive in, please make sure this isn't a duplicate by searching through existing issues. Also check recently closed issues, as your problem might already be fixed but not yet released.

https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues?q=%20label%3A%22integration%3A%20ezviz%22%20
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ezviz documentation
ezviz source
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[tk1475]

The crash is in pyezvizapi's RTSP credential test: it decodes the camera's reply with msg1.decode(), so the 0xff byte your C8C sends raises UnicodeDecodeError. This is still the case in the latest release (1.0.5.0).

I've opened a fix upstream in RenierM26/pyEzvizApi#277, which decodes the reply as latin-1 so bytes like this can't break it. Once it's released, bumping pyezvizapi here should fix the config flow.