CVE-2022-21689
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedOnionShare is an open source tool that lets you securely and anonymously share files, host websites, and chat with friends using the Tor network. In affected versions the receive mode limits concurrent uploads to 100 per second and blocks other uploads in the same second, which can be triggered by a simple script. An adversary with access to the receive mode can block file upload for others. There is no way to block this attack in public mode due to the anonymity properties of the tor network.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceOnionShare receive mode has a rate limit of 100 concurrent uploads per second. An attacker with access to receive mode can flood the system with 100 requests per second using a simple script, blocking legitimate file uploads. This is a denial-of-service vulnerability exploiting the application's concurrency throttling mechanism.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 2.5CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check OnionShare versionOpen OnionShare and navigate to the application menu, or run 'onionshare --version' from command line if availableAffected if The installed version is below 2.5 (e.g., 2.4, 2.3, etc.)
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Identify if receive mode is in useOpen OnionShare and verify whether the receive mode feature is enabled or can be activated - look for the 'Receive Files' option in the application interfaceAffected if Receive mode is enabled or can be enabled on the current installation
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Confirm public mode configurationCheck OnionShare settings to determine if the instance is configured in public mode (allowing anonymous connections without requiring a private key)Affected if Public mode is enabled, as this makes the attack more impactful by allowing anonymous request flooding
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Verify application is exposed to networkConfirm OnionShare is running and reachable over the network - check if the receive mode service is actively listening for incoming connectionsAffected if OnionShare receive mode is actively running and accepting connections
A user is affected if they are running OnionShare version below 2.5 with receive mode enabled and accessible, allowing an attacker to flood with 100 requests per second and block legitimate uploads.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped2.5
Users should update to the patched version of OnionShare. In public mode, the Tor anonymity properties make this attack difficult to mitigate externally; the fix must be implemented in the application itself.
2.5
- 1. Back up any current OnionShare configuration and data if needed
- 2. Uninstall the current version of OnionShare
- 3. Download OnionShare version 2.5 or later from the official source (onionshare.org)
- 4. Install the new version following the standard installation process for your operating system
- 5. Verify the installed version is 2.5 or later by checking the application or running 'onionshare --version'
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,480.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-21689 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-21689 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data