# CVE-2022-21695: Improper Access Control in Onionshare

> Authenticated or public users can send hidden chat messages in OnionShare, bypassing participant visibility controls.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Jan 2022
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-21695, GHSA-99p8-9p2c-49j4, PYSEC-2022-46

## What is CVE-2022-21695?

CVE-2022-21695 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in onionshare, published on 18 Jan 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

OnionShare is an open source tool that lets you securely and anonymously share files, host websites, and chat with friends using the Tor network. In affected versions authenticated users (or unauthenticated in public mode) can send messages without being visible in the list of chat participants. This issue has been resolved in version 2.5.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-21695?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including onionshare-cli. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `onionshare-cli` | PyPI | All versions | 2.5 |
| `onionshare-cli` | PyPI | From 2.3 | 2.5 |
| `onionshare-cli` | PyPI | From 2.3 | 2.5 |

Products: Onionshare Onionshare.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-21695?

Upgrade onionshare-cli to 2.5 or later.

## Is CVE-2022-21695 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-21695 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in onionshare

- [CVE-2021-41868](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41868/): Remote unauthenticated attackers able to upload files in Onionshare (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-21690](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21690/): Cross-Site Scripting in Onionshare (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2022-21688](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21688/): Out-of-bounds Read in Onionshare (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2022-21689](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21689/): Denial of Service in Onionshare (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-19960](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-19960/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-21695 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-21695 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in onionshare, published on 18 Jan 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-21695 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- onionshare-cli (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.5
- onionshare-cli (PyPI): affected from 2.3; fixed in 2.5
- onionshare-cli (PyPI): affected from 2.3; fixed in 2.5

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21695/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21695/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-21695
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21695
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-21695

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21695/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.