CVE-2021-41177
Rate-limits not working on instances without configured memory cache backend
Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted productivity platform. Prior to versions 20.0.13, 21.0.5, and 22.2.0, Nextcloud Server did not implement a database backend for rate-limiting purposes. Any component of Nextcloud using rate-limits (as as AnonRateThrottle or UserRateThrottle) was thus not rate limited on instances not having a memory cache backend configured. In the case of a default installation, this would notably include the rate-limits on the two factor codes. It is recommended that the Nextcloud Server be upgraded to 20.0.13, 21.0.5, or 22.2.0. As a workaround, enable a memory cache backend in config.php.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
8.1
Rate-limits not working on instances without configured memory cache backend
Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted productivity platform. Prior to versions 20.0.13, 21.0.5, and 22.2.0, Nextcloud Server did not implement a database backend for rate-limiting purposes. Any component of Nextcloud using rate-limits (as as AnonRateThrottle or UserRateThrottle) was thus not rate limited on instances not having a memory cache backend configured. In the case of a default installation, this would notably include the rate-limits on the two factor codes. It is recommended that the Nextcloud Server be upgraded to 20.0.13, 21.0.5, or 22.2.0. As a workaround, enable a memory cache backend in config.php.
- Record
CVE-2021-41177- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-799
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-28279
8.1
Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted productivity platform. Prior to versions 20.0.13, 21.0.5, and 22.2.0, Nextcloud Server did not implement a database backend for rate-limiting purposes. Any component of Nextcloud using rate-limits (as as AnonRateThrottle or UserRateThrottle) was thus not rate limited on instances not having a memory cache backend configured. In the case of a default installation, this would notably include the rate-limits on the two factor codes. It is recommended that the Nextcloud Server be upgraded to 20.0.13, 21.0.5, or 22.2.0. As a workaround, enable a memory cache backend in config.php.
- Record
EUVD-2021-28279- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
NVD
8.1
Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted productivity platform. Prior to versions 20.0.13, 21.0.5, and 22.2.0, Nextcloud Server did not implement a database backend for rate-limiting purposes. Any component of Nextcloud using rate-limits (as as AnonRateThrottle or UserRateThrottle) was thus not rate limited on instances not having a memory cache backend configured. In the case of a default installation, this would notably include the rate-limits on the two factor codes. It is recommended that the Nextcloud Server be upgraded to 20.0.13, 21.0.5, or 22.2.0. As a workaround, enable a memory cache backend in config.php.
- Record
CVE-2021-41177- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 5.5 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-799
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
8.1
Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted productivity platform. Prior to versions 20.0.13, 21.0.5, and 22.2.0, Nextcloud Server did not implement a database backend for rate-limiting purposes. Any component of Nextcloud using rate-limits (as as AnonRateThrottle or UserRateThrottle) was thus not rate limited on instances not having a memory cache backend configured. In the case of a default installation, this would notably include the rate-limits on the two factor codes. It is recommended that the Nextcloud Server be upgraded to 20.0.13, 21.0.5, or 22.2.0. As a workaround, enable a memory cache backend in config.php.
- Record
CVE-2021-41177- CVSS 3.1
- 8.1 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2021:1602-1 No score
Security update for nextcloud
This update for nextcloud fixes the following issues:
Update to 20.0.14
Security issues fixed:
- CVE-2021-41179: Fix boo#1192028 - (CWE-304): Two-Factor Authentication not enforced for pages marked as public
- CVE-2021-41178: Fix boo#1192030 - (CWE-434): File Traversal affecting SVG files on Nextcloud Server
- CVE-2021-41177: Fix boo#1192031 - (CWE-799): Rate-limits not working on instances without configured memory cache backend
Changes:
- Add command to repair broken filesystem trees (server#26630)
- Ensure that user and group IDs in LDAP's tables are also max 64chars (server#28971)
- Change output format of Psalm to Github (server#29048)
- File-upload: Correctly handle error responses for HTTP2 (server#29069)
- Allow 'TwoFactor Nextcloud Notifications' to pull the state of the 2F… (server#29072)
- Add a few sensitive config keys (server#29085)
- Fix path of file_get_contents (server#29095)
- Update the certificate bundle (server#29098)
- Keep pw based auth tokens valid when pw-less login happens (server#29131)
- Properly handle folder deletion on external s3 storage (server#29158)
- Tokens without password should not trigger changed password invalidation (server#29166)
- Don't further setup disabled users when logging in with apache (server#29167)
- Add 'supported'-label to all supported apps (server#29181)
- 21] generate a better optimized query for path prefix search filters (server#29192)
- Keep group restrictions when reenabling apps after an update (server#29198)
- Add proper message to created share not found (server#29205)
- Add documentation for files_no_background_scan (server#29219)
- Don't setup the filesystem to check for a favicon we don't use anyway (server#29223)
- Fix background scan doc in config (server#29253)
- Get
filesize()iffile_exists()(server#29290) - Fix unable to login errors due to file system not being initialized (server#29291)
- Update 3rdparty ref (server#29297)
- Bump icewind/streams from 0.7.3 to 0.7.5 in files_external (server#29298)
- Fix app upgrade (server#29303)
- Avoid PHP errors when the LDAP attribute is not found (server#29314)
- Fix security issues when copying groupfolder with advanced ACL (server#29366)
- Scheduling plugin not updating responding attendee status (server#29387)
- Make calendar schedule options translatable (server#29388)
- Add whitelist for apps inside of the server repo (server#29396)
- Handle files with
is_fileinstead offile_exists(server#29417) - Fixes an undefined index when getAccessList returns an empty array (server#29421)
- Extra fixes needed for icewind/streams update to 0.7.2 (server#29426)
- Backport #29260: Respect user enumeration settings in user status lists (server#29429)
- Implement local filtering in file list (server#29441)
- Detect mimetype by content only with content (server#29457)
- Update CRL (server#29505)
- Update update-psalm-baseline workflow (server#29548)
- Bump icewind/streams from 0.7.1 to 0.7.5 (3rdparty#855)
- Bump version (files_pdfviewer#512)
- Fix deleting notifications with numeric user ID (notifications#1090)
- Add integration tests for push registration (notifications#1097)
- Restore old device signature so the proxy works again (notifications#1105)
- Bump vue and vue-template-compiler (photos#864)
- Bump prosemirror-schema-list from 1.1.5 to 1.1.6 (text#1868)
- Additional checks for workspace controller (text#1887)
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2021:1602-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
nextcloudSUSE:Package Hub 12 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 | 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 |
nextcloudSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP1 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 | 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 |
nextcloudSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP2 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 | 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 |
nextcloudSUSE:Package Hub 15 SP3 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 | 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 |
nextcloudopenSUSE:Leap 15.2 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 | 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 |
nextcloudopenSUSE:Leap 15.3 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 | 20.0.14-bp153.2.9.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, facts | ||
| aliases, products | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-41177 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.1) in Nextcloud Server, published October 25, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.55%, the 75th percentile. No source names a fixed version.