CVE-2022-31052
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.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
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.
- Record
CVE-2022-31052- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-674
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-0153
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.
- Record
EUVD-2022-0153- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-22p3-qrh9-cx32
URL previews of unusual or maliciously-crafted pages can crash Synapse media repositories or Synapse monoliths
Impact
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.
Am I affected?
- deployments with
url_preview_enabled: falseset in configuration are not affected. - deployments with
url_preview_enabled: trueset in configuration are affected. - deployments with no configuration value set for
url_preview_enabledare not affected, because the default isfalse.
Patches
Administrators of homeservers with URL previews enabled are advised to upgrade to v1.61.1 or higher.
Workarounds
- URL previews can be disabled in the configuration file by setting
url_preview_enabled: false. - Deployments using workers can choose to offload URL previews to one or more dedicated worker(s), ensuring that a process crash does not disrupt other functionality of Synapse.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, e-mail us at [email protected].
- Record
GHSA-22p3-qrh9-cx32- CVSS 4.0
- 7.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-674
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
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.
- Record
CVE-2022-31052- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 3.5 Low
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-674
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2022-31052
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.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2022-31052- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
OSV
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.
- Record
CVE-2022-31052- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-674
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 5 moreShow less
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2022-31052
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.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2022-31052- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-22p3-qrh9-cx32
URL previews of unusual or maliciously-crafted pages can crash Synapse media repositories or Synapse monoliths
Impact
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.
Am I affected?
- deployments with
url_preview_enabled: falseset in configuration are not affected. - deployments with
url_preview_enabled: trueset in configuration are affected. - deployments with no configuration value set for
url_preview_enabledare not affected, because the default isfalse.
Patches
Administrators of homeservers with URL previews enabled are advised to upgrade to v1.61.1 or higher.
Workarounds
- URL previews can be disabled in the configuration file by setting
url_preview_enabled: false. - Deployments using workers can choose to offload URL previews to one or more dedicated worker(s), ensuring that a process crash does not disrupt other functionality of Synapse.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, e-mail us at [email protected].
- Record
GHSA-22p3-qrh9-cx32- CVSS 4.0
- 7.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-674
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2022-31052
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.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2022-31052- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:12160-1 No score
matrix-synapse-1.61.1-1.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the matrix-synapse-1.61.1-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:12160-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2022-224 No score
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.
- Record
PYSEC-2022-224- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
matrix-synapsePyPI |
before 1.61.1 | 1.61.1 |
synapseAlpine:v3.16 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.17 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.18 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.19 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.20 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.21 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.22 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.23 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
synapseAlpine:v3.24 |
before 1.61.1-r0 | 1.61.1-r0 |
Show 5 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
matrix-synapsePyPI |
before 1.61.1, plus listed versions 0.33.50.33.5.10.33.60.33.6rc10.33.7 Show 45 moreShow less0.33.7rc10.33.7rc20.33.80.33.8rc20.33.90.34.00.34.0.10.34.0rc10.34.0rc20.34.1.10.99.00.99.0rc10.99.0rc20.99.0rc30.99.0rc40.99.10.99.1.10.99.1rc10.99.1rc20.99.20.99.2rc10.99.30.99.3.10.99.3.20.99.3rc10.99.40.99.4rc10.99.50.99.5.10.99.5.20.99.5rc11.0.01.0.0rc11.0.0rc21.0.0rc31.1.01.1.0rc11.1.0rc21.10.01.10.0rc11.10.0rc21.10.0rc31.10.0rc51.10.11.11.0 |
1.61.1 |
matrix-synapseUbuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.19.2+dfsg-60.24.0+dfsg-10.24.0+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm10.24.0+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm4 |
None known |
matrix-synapseUbuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.3.0-11.4.0-11.5.0-11.5.1-11.6.0-1 Show 12 moreShow less1.6.1-11.7.0-21.7.1-11.7.2-11.7.3-11.8.0-11.9.0-11.9.1-11.10.0-11.10.0-21.11.0-11.11.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm2 |
None known |
matrix-synapseUbuntu:Pro:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 1.39.0-11.47.0-21.47.1-11.48.0-11.49.0-1 Show 7 moreShow less1.49.2-11.50.1-11.50.2-11.51.0-11.52.0-11.53.0-11.53.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm2 |
None known |
matrix-synapseopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 1.61.1-1.1 | 1.61.1-1.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, aliases, references | OSV | |
| affected | ||
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2022-31052 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Element-hq Synapse, published June 28, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.66%, the 76th percentile. Fixed in matrix-synapse 1.61.1.
References
github.com/matrix-org/synapse/security/advisories/GHSA-22p3-qrh9-cx32
spec.matrix.org/v1.2/client-server-api
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/7EARKKJZ2W7WUITFDT4EG4NVATFYJQHF
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-31052
Show 11 moreShow less
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2022-31052
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-31052
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-31052
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-31052
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-31052
Left out here: 209 versions. The JSON record has them.