Authorization Bypass (IDOR)Weakness · CWE-639

CVE-2024-9617

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2025-03-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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
An IDOR vulnerability in danswer-ai/danswer v0.3.94 allows an attacker to view any files. The application does not verify whether the attacker is the creator of the file, allowing the attacker to directly call the GET /api/chat/file/{file_id} interface to view any user's 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 confidence

An IDOR vulnerability in danswer-ai/danswer v0.3.94 allows unauthorized access to files via the GET /api/chat/file/{file_id} endpoint. The application fails to verify that the requester is the creator of the file, enabling any authenticated user to view any other user's files by simply knowing or guessing the file ID.

MitigationImplement proper authorization checks to verify that the requesting user is the owner of the file before returning file contents. This should include validating user-session context against file ownership records.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify danswer version
    Check the installed danswer-ai/danswer version by inspecting package metadata, docker image tags, or the running application version endpoint (often at /api/version or similar). Compare against v0.3.94.
    Affected if Running version v0.3.94 specifically
  2. Confirm endpoint availability
    Verify the GET /api/chat/file/{file_id} endpoint exists in the application by checking API route definitions or attempting a request (with valid auth) to a known file ID.
    Affected if The /api/chat/file/{file_id} endpoint is accessible and responds to requests
  3. Inspect authorization logic
    Review the source code or configuration for the file endpoint handler. Look for user ownership validation before returning file contents. Check if user-session context is compared against file ownership records.
    Affected if No ownership validation is performed before serving file content, or the check is missing/disabled
  4. Test cross-user file access
    With two different authenticated user accounts, create a file as User A, obtain its file ID, then attempt to access that same file ID while authenticated as User B.
    Affected if User B can successfully retrieve User A's file content without receiving a 403 Forbidden or ownership error
  5. Check authentication requirements
    Verify whether the file endpoint requires authentication at all, or if it can be accessed anonymously.
    Affected if The endpoint accepts requests without valid authentication or session context

You are affected if running danswer v0.3.94 AND the /api/chat/file/{file_id} endpoint exists AND allows any authenticated user to access files they do not own.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper authorization checks to verify that the requesting user is the owner of the file before returning file contents. This should include validating user-session context against file ownership records.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,190
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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-2024-9617 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data