CVE-2025-62509: Filerise Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2025-62509 Overview

CVE-2025-62509 is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability in FileRise, a self-hosted web-based file manager. The flaw exists in versions prior to 1.4.0 and stems from a business logic error in file and folder handling. Low-privilege authenticated users can view, delete, or modify files owned by other users. The application inferred ownership and visibility from folder names rather than enforcing server-side authorization checks. Attackers can target resources identified only by predictable names, such as folders named after usernames. The issue is patched in version 1.4.0 and further hardened in 1.5.0.

Critical Impact
Authenticated low-privilege users can read, modify, or delete files belonging to other FileRise users, compromising data confidentiality and integrity across tenants.

Affected Products

FileRise versions prior to 1.4.0
FileRise self-hosted deployments using default multi-user configurations
Environments relying on folder-name-based access logic

Discovery Timeline

2025-10-20 - CVE-2025-62509 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-62509

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a classic Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) pattern, categorized under [CWE-280] Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges. FileRise exposes file operation endpoints that accept resource identifiers, such as paths or folder names, without verifying that the requesting user owns or has rights to those resources. Ownership was inferred from folder naming conventions, where a folder named after a username was assumed to belong to that user. This inference is not enforced by server-side authorization logic. An attacker authenticated as any standard user can supply another user's folder or file identifier to operations including delete, rename, and move.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing server-side ownership validation across file operation endpoints. The application treated predictable names as security boundaries. No mapping between the authenticated session and actual resource ownership was enforced before performing destructive or read operations.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network access to the FileRise web interface and valid low-privilege credentials. The attacker enumerates or guesses folder names corresponding to other users, then issues authenticated API requests targeting those resources. No user interaction from the victim is required. The attacker can exfiltrate files, overwrite content, or destroy data belonging to any other tenant on the instance.

No public proof-of-concept code is available. See the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-6p87-q9rh-95wh and the remediation commit for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-62509

Indicators of Compromise

Authenticated API calls referencing folder paths that do not match the requesting user's username
Unexpected DELETE, rename, or move operations targeting files outside the user's home directory
Sudden disappearance, renaming, or modification of files belonging to multiple users from a single session ID
Access log entries showing one user account touching many distinct user-named top-level folders in a short window

Detection Strategies

Review FileRise application logs for cross-user resource access patterns and correlate by session and source IP
Compare the authenticated principal in each request with the owner of the targeted folder or file
Alert on file operation endpoints invoked with parameters referencing other usernames
Forward FileRise access and operation logs to a centralized SIEM such as Singularity Data Lake for normalized querying and long-term retention

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on file create, delete, rename, and move endpoints with full path and user attribution
Monitor for spikes in delete or rename volume per user account against historical baselines
Track HTTP referers and request bodies that include foreign username strings in folder paths
Configure file integrity monitoring on the FileRise storage backend to detect out-of-band modifications

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-62509

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade FileRise to version 1.5.0, which contains the hardened authorization checks
If immediate upgrade is not possible, upgrade to at least version 1.4.0, which contains the initial patch
Audit existing user folders and file ownership records for evidence of unauthorized modification
Rotate credentials for any low-privilege accounts that may have been used to exploit the flaw

Patch Information

The vendor released the initial fix in FileRise 1.4.0 via commit 25ce6a7. Version 1.5.0 further hardens authorization across file operation endpoints. Both releases add server-side ownership verification before allowing delete, rename, or move operations. Refer to GitHub Issue #53 for additional context on the remediation.

Workarounds

Restrict non-admin users to read-only access until patched versions are deployed
Disable the delete and rename API endpoints at the web server or reverse proxy layer for non-admin roles
Avoid creating top-level folders named after other usernames to reduce predictability of resource identifiers
Add a reverse-proxy authorization layer that verifies the requesting user against the targeted folder path before forwarding requests

bash

# Example nginx rule restricting delete and rename endpoints to admin users
location ~ ^/api/(delete|rename|move) {
    if ($http_x_user_role != "admin") {
        return 403;
    }
    proxy_pass http://filerise_backend;
}