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Nextcloud ServerApplication · Nextcloud

CVE-2023-25159

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.3.1 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
Nextcloud Server is the file server software for Nextcloud, a self-hosted productivity platform, and Nextcloud Office is a document collaboration app for the same platform. Nextcloud Server 24.0.x prior to 24.0.8 and 25.0.x prior to 25.0.1, Nextcloud Enterprise Server 24.0.x prior to 24.0.8 and 25.0.x prior to 25.0.1, and Nextcloud Office (Richdocuments) App 6.x prior to 6.3.1 and 7.x prior to 7.0.1 have previews accessible without a watermark. The download should be hidden and the watermark should get applied. This issue is fixed in Nextcloud Server 25.0.1 and 24.0.8, Nextcloud Enterprise Server 25.0.1 and 24.0.8, and Nextcloud Office (Richdocuments) App 7.0.1 (for 25) and 6.3.1 (for 24). No known workarounds are available.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-284

The application fails to correctly restrict what a user can do or reach, so functions or resources are available to people who should not have them. Attackers simply probe for the paths where the check is missing or wrong. The fix is to enforce access-control decisions consistently on every request, evaluated against the acting user rather than assumed from context.

General guidance for the improper access control class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Nextcloud ServerApplication
Affected:>= 24.0.4, <= 24.0.8= 24.0.2= 25.0.0
RichdocumentsApplication
Affected:>= 6.0.0, < 6.3.1= 7.0.0

CVSS 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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.3.1 or later
Fixed in 6.3.1
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Nextcloud Server 24.0.8 or 25.0.1 with corresponding Richdocuments app 6.3.1 or 7.0.1

  1. 1. Backup your Nextcloud instance database and data directory before proceeding
  2. 2. Update Nextcloud Server to version 24.0.8 (if on 24.x) or 25.0.1 (if on 25.x) using your package manager or manual upgrade process
  3. 3. Update the Richdocuments app to version 6.3.1 (if using Server 24.x) or 7.0.1 (if using Server 25.x) via the Nextcloud App Store or occ app:update richdocuments
  4. 4. Verify the update completed successfully by checking the Nextcloud Admin settings > Overview
  5. 5. Confirm that file previews now require watermarks and downloads are properly restricted

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-25159 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • 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
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