URL previews can crash Synapse media repositories or Synapse monoliths
Synapse is an open source home server implementation for the Matrix chat network. In versions prior to 1.61.1 URL previews of some web pages can exhaust the available stack space for the Synapse process due to unbounded recursion. This is sometimes recoverable and leads to an error for the request causing the problem, but in other cases the Synapse process may crash altogether. It is possible to exploit this maliciously, either by malicious users on the homeserver, or by remote users sending URLs that a local user's client may automatically request a URL preview for. Remote users are not able to exploit this directly, because the URL preview endpoint is authenticated. Deployments with `url_preview_enabled: false` set in configuration are not affected. Deployments with `url_preview_enabled: true` set in configuration **are** affected. Deployments with no configuration value set for `url_preview_enabled` are not affected, because the default is `false`. Administrators of homeservers with URL previews enabled are advised to upgrade to v1.61.1 or higher. Users unable to upgrade should set `url_preview_enabled` to false.
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for help- Published
- Jun 28, 2022
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 1.7% · 76th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-674
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Report tools
Action score
26
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 1.7%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 6.5
- CNA · GitHub_M
- 6.5
- agree
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| matrix | synapse | cpe:2.3:a:matrix:synapse |
| fedoraproject | fedora | cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- fedoraproject fedora35
- fedoraproject fedora36
- matrix synapsebefore 1.61.1
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
matrix-org synapse
- < 1.61.1affected
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:14 | matrix-synapse | before 1.61.1-1 | 1.61.1-1 |
| openSUSE:Tumbleweed | matrix-synapse | before 1.61.1-1.1 | 1.61.1-1.1 |
| PyPI | matrix-synapse | before 1.61.1 | 1.61.1 |
Same product
matrix: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2019-18835Matrix Synapse before 1.5.0 mishandles signature checking on some federation APIs.39Monitor
- CVE-2018-16515Matrix Synapse before 0.33.3.1 allows remote attackers to spoof events and possibly have unspecified other impacts by leveraging improper tr35Monitor
- CVE-2024-52815Synapse allows a a malformed invite to break the invitee's `/sync`34Monitor
- CVE-2024-53863Synapse can be forced to thumbnail unexpected file formats, invoking external, potentially untrustworthy decoders32Monitor
- CVE-2024-52805Synapse allows unsupported content types to lead to memory exhaustion32Monitor
- CVE-2021-21332Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the password reset endpoint32Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| debian:matrix-synapse | 1.61.1-1 · Debian:14 | Package registry (OSV) |
| opensuse:matrix-synapse | 1.61.1-1.1 · openSUSE:Tumbleweed | Package registry (OSV) |
| PyPI:matrix-synapse | 1.61.1 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- none
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- None
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-674 · Uncontrolled RecursionCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
ATT&CK techniques
—
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
- github.com/matrix-org/synapse/commit/fa1308061802ac7b7d20e954ba7372c5ac292333
- github.com/matrix-org/synapse/security/advisories/GHSA-22p3-qrh9-cx32
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/7EARKKJZ2W7WUITFDT4EG4NVATFYJQHF/
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGSDQ4YAITCUACAB7SXQZDJIU3IQ4CJD/
- spec.matrix.org/v1.2/client-server-api/#get_matrixmediav3preview_url
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.