Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate via upstream proxy or hook identity provider
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DeliveryTrigger File Browser auto-provisioning on first login
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ExploitBypass createUserDir isolation in provisioning path
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ExecutionReceive server root filesystem scope in session
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ImpactBrowse, read, modify, or delete other users' files
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Access control enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires two specific conditions: first, the File Browser instance must be configured to use proxy authentication (header-based reverse-proxy auth) or hook authentication (external command/script-based auth) as the authentication method - instances using built-in username/password authentication are NOT affected. Second, the attacker must possess valid credentials accepted by the upstream identity provider, granting them a legitimate authenticated session. No additional privileges, special roles, or non-default settings beyond these two preconditions are required. What limits exploitation is the credential gate: an unauthenticated external attacker cannot bypass the upstream identity provider. The vulnerability is scoped to the auto-provisioning flow, so users already provisioned with correct directory scopes via non-affected paths may not be re-provisioned with root scope on subsequent logins - the risk is highest on initial user creation through these paths. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N) scores 8.7 and accurately characterizes this as a high-severity, low-complexity, network-exploitable flaw requiring only low privileges. The PR:L designation is critical: exploitation is gated on possessing valid upstream-authenticated credentials, which meaningfully limits the attacker population to users who have already authenticated through the upstream identity provider. However, in deployments where proxy or hook auth is used for SSO across a user base, any one of those users can immediately pivot to full file access for all others - the attack requires no additional tooling or privilege escalation beyond a valid login. No EPSS data was provided in the input, and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, suggesting no confirmed widespread active exploitation. The absence of KEV does not indicate low real-world risk in shared or multi-tenant File Browser deployments, where the blast radius is the entire user file corpus. The scope is unchanged (SC:N/SI:N/SA:N), meaning the compromise stays within the File Browser application boundary and does not pivot to the underlying OS or adjacent systems. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with a valid account in the upstream identity provider (e.g., an LDAP, SAML, or OAuth-backed SSO system fronting File Browser via a reverse proxy) logs in normally through the proxy authentication flow. Because their session is provisioned with server root scope rather than a sandboxed directory, they can immediately navigate to and exfiltrate, overwrite, or delete files belonging to other users - including administrators - without any additional exploitation steps. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, but the straightforward nature of the scope bypass means any technically capable authenticated user could replicate the behavior manually. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 14, 2026
Improper access control in File Browser before 2.63.20 allows authenticated users operating through proxy or hook authentication to escape their isolated directory scope and access the server root, exposing all other users' files for reading, modification, deletion, and sharing. The flaw specifically targets the createUserDir isolation mechanism, which is bypassed during auto-provisioning in proxy and hook authentication paths - leaving multi-tenant or shared File Browser deployments fully compromised at the data layer. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and CISA KEV listing is absent, but the CVSS 4.0 score of 8.7 reflects the high impact once a valid upstream credential is obtained.
RemediationAI
Upgrade File Browser to version 2.63.20 or later, which corrects the createUserDir scope assignment in proxy and hook authentication auto-provisioning paths. The fix is documented in the GitHub security advisory GHSA-j7jh-37pf-mf8h at https://github.com/filebrowser/filebrowser/security/advisories/GHSA-j7jh-37pf-mf8h. If an immediate upgrade is not possible, the most effective compensating control is to disable proxy authentication and hook authentication entirely and fall back to built-in username/password authentication, which does not traverse the vulnerable auto-provisioning code path - note this may break SSO or upstream identity integration. Alternatively, administrators can pre-provision all user accounts manually with explicit directory scopes before enabling proxy/hook auth, eliminating the auto-provisioning trigger; however, this requires careful operational discipline to prevent scope regression on new user additions. Restricting the File Browser instance to a single trusted user or disabling sharing features reduces the blast radius but does not eliminate the underlying flaw.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
File Browser (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:filebrowser:filebrowser:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) is a self-hosted web-based file manager that supports multiple authentication backends including reverse-proxy header-based auth and hook-based auth for SSO and upstream identity delegation. The createUserDir feature is designed to automatically provision isolated home directories for users on first login, enforcing per-user filesystem scope. CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) describes the root cause: the auto-provisioning logic in the proxy and hook authentication code paths fails to apply the correct directory scope assignment, defaulting instead to the server root. This means that any user auto-provisioned through these paths receives a token or session with root-level filesystem scope rather than their sandboxed home directory, breaking the multi-tenancy model the feature is intended to enforce.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-exploitable with low complexity; PR:L reflects required upstream credential; high CIA impact within unchanged application scope.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
File Browser versions before 2.63.20 fail to honor the createUserDir isolation in proxy and hook authentication auto-provisioning paths. Attackers with valid upstream-authenticated credentials can read, modify, delete, and share files belonging to other users by exploiting the server root scope assignment.
Executive ViewAI
File Browser versions before 2.63.20 contain an access control bypass that enables authenticated users to access, modify, delete, and share other users' files in shared deployments. Organizations operating multi-tenant or shared File Browser instances face immediate threats to data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Without remediation, user data segregation cannot be maintained across shared infrastructure.
Disable proxy and hook authentication in favor of direct authentication only; implement network-level access restrictions via firewall or VPN to limit File Browser exposure; enable comprehensive audit logging of all file system operations; restrict deployments to single-user instances or single authentication principal per deployment where operationally feasible; disable auto-provisioning functionality; conduct regular audits of file access patterns to identify unauthorized inter-user operations.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-58651
GHSA-6x93-4cv7-m749
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB