AudiobookshelfApplication

CVE-2025-25205

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.19.1 or later.
See remediation →
91/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit 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
Audiobookshelf is a self-hosted audiobook and podcast server. Starting in version 2.17.0 and prior to version 2.19.1, a flaw in the authentication bypass logic allows unauthenticated requests to match certain unanchored regex patterns in the URL. Attackers can craft URLs containing substrings like "/api/items/1/cover" in a query parameter (?r=/api/items/1/cover) to partially bypass authentication or trigger server crashes under certain routes. This could lead to information disclosure of otherwise protected data and, in some cases, a complete denial of service (server crash) if downstream code expects an authenticated user object. Version 2.19.1 contains a patch for the issue.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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
AudiobookshelfApplication
Affected:>= 2.17.0, < 2.19.1

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
High

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

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 2.19.1 or later
Fixed in 2.19.1
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to audiobookshelf version 2.19.1 or later

  1. 1. Back up your audiobookshelf data and configuration files before proceeding with any upgrade.
  2. 2. Stop the audiobookshelf service to prevent any active connections during the upgrade.
  3. 3. Upgrade audiobookshelf to version 2.19.1 or later. The method depends on your installation: if using Docker, pull the new image and recreate the container; if using a package manager, run the update command; if using direct installation, download and install the new version from the releases page.
  4. 4. Start the audiobookshelf service after the upgrade is complete.
  5. 5. Verify that the authentication bypass vulnerability is fixed by attempting to access protected endpoints without proper authentication and confirming access is denied.
Caveat Review release notes for 2.19.1 to check for any breaking changes or migration requirements before upgrading

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 $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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Free · runs locally
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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-2025-25205 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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