CVE-2023-33498
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 · uneditedalist <=3.16.3 is vulnerable to Incorrect Access Control. Low privilege accounts can upload any file.
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 confidenceAList file storage application versions 3.16.3 and below contain an incorrect access control vulnerability that allows low-privilege users to upload arbitrary files to the system, bypassing intended permission boundaries. The upload function lacks proper role-based validation, enabling privilege escalation.
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< 3.16.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 installed AList versionAccess the AList admin panel or run 'alist version' command to determine the exact version numberAffected if version is 3.16.3 or below (< 3.16.3)
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Verify user roles and permissionsIn the admin panel, review the user list and check each user's role assignment (admin vs. guest vs. other)Affected if any user with guest or non-admin role exists in the system
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Test upload function accessLog in as a non-admin (guest or low-privilege) user and attempt to access the file upload function or API endpointAffected if a low-privilege user can successfully access or use the upload feature
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Audit recent file uploadsReview the storage metadata or file system logs to identify files uploaded by users who should not have upload permissionsAffected if files exist that were uploaded by non-admin users
You are affected if your AList version is below 3.16.3 AND you have non-admin users who can access the upload function or have uploaded files to the system.
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 · scoped3.16.3
Upgrade AList to version 3.17.0 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict low-privilege user creation and monitor for unauthorized file uploads.
Alist version 3.16.3 or later
- Backup your current Alist installation and data before upgrading
- Download Alist version 3.16.3 or later from the official GitHub releases page
- Stop the current Alist service
- Replace the Alist binary with the new version
- Restart the Alist service
- Verify the upgrade was successful by logging in and confirming the version number
- Test that the file upload functionality now properly enforces access controls for low-privilege accounts
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-33498 — 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-2023-33498 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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