# CVE-2023-25161: Nextcloud Server's missing rate limiting on password reset functionality allows sending lots of emails

> Attackers can trigger excessive password reset emails, causing service slowdowns, storage overflow, or financial costs due to missing rate limiting.

- **Severity:** Low 3.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 13 Feb 2023
- **Updated:** 10 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-492h-596q-xr2f

## What is CVE-2023-25161?

CVE-2023-25161 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in Nextcloud Nextcloud Server, published on 13 Feb 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Nextcloud Server is the file server software for Nextcloud, a self-hosted productivity platform. Nextcloud Server and Nextcloud Enterprise Server prior to versions 25.0.1 24.0.8, and 23.0.12 missing rate limiting on password reset functionality. This could result in service slowdown, storage overflow, or cost impact when using external email services. Users should upgrade to Nextcloud Server 25.0.1, 24.0.8, or 23.0.12 or Nextcloud Enterprise Server 25.0.1, 24.0.8, or 23.0.12 to receive a patch. No known workarounds are available.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-25161?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nextcloud Nextcloud Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-25161?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-25161 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-25161 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-25161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Nextcloud Nextcloud Server

- [CVE-2021-32802](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32802/): Preview generation used third-party library not suited for user-generated content in Nextcloud server (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2023-26482](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-26482/): Scope of workflow operations is not validated in nextcloud server (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2018-3775](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-3775/): Auth bypass in Nextcloud Server (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-35172](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-35172/): Nextcloud Server password reset endpoint is not brute force protected (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2023-32320](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32320/): Nextcloud Server's brute force protection allows someone to send more requests than intended (high 8.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-25161 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-25161 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in Nextcloud Nextcloud Server, published on 13 Feb 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-25161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Nextcloud Nextcloud Server. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2023-25161/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25161/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-25161
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-25161
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-25161

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25161/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.