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PYSEC-2026-663
No affected components available
Impact
Synapse before 1.52.0 with URL preview functionality enabled will attempt to generate URL previews for media stream URLs without properly limiting connection time. Connections will only be terminated after max_spider_size (default: 10M) bytes have been downloaded, which can in some cases lead to long-lived connections towards the streaming media server (for instance, Icecast).
This can cause excessive traffic and connections toward such servers if their stream URL is, for example, posted to a large room with many Synapse instances with URL preview enabled.
Patches
1.52.0 implements a timeout mechanism which will terminate URL preview connections after 30 seconds. Since generating URL previews for media streams is not supported and always fails, 1.53.0 additionally implements an allow list for content types for which Synapse will even attempt to generate a URL preview.
We recommend upgrading to 1.53.0 to fully resolve the issue.
Workarounds
Turn off URL preview functionality by setting url_preview_enabled: false in the Synapse configuration file.
References
- Patch (timeout): https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/11784
- Patch (content type allow list): https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/11936
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, e-mail us at security@matrix.org.
The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a low impact on the availability of the system.
Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.
The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.
We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.
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