Impact
Every NixOS based Odoo setup publicly exposes the database manager without any authentication. This allows unauthorized actors to delete and download the entire database, including Odoos file store.
Unauthorized access is evident from http requests. If kept, searching access logs and/or Odoos log for requests to /web/database can give indicators, if this has been actively exploited.
The database manager is a featured intended for development and not meant to be publicly reachable. On other setups, a master password acts as 2nd line of defence. However, due to the nature of NixOS, Odoo is not able to modify its own configuration file and thus unable to persist the auto-generated password. This also applies when manually setting a master password in the web-UI. This means, the password is lost when restarting Odoo.
When no password is set, the user is prompted to set one directly via the database manager. This requires no authentication or action by any authorized user or the system administrator. Thus, the database is effectively world readable by anyone able to reach Odoo.
Patches
NixOS unstable/26.05: #485310
NixOS 25.11: #485454
Workarounds / Remediations
The recommended fix is to entirely disable the database manager by setting services.odoo.settings.options.list_db = false;.
If an immediate update to configuration is not possible, blocking all requests targeting /web/database may be used in the meantime. Disabling the database manager entirely is still the preferred long-term fix, this is also recommended by the Odoo developers.
Given how the Odoo module is made, setting a master password is no appropriate fix. If set via the web-UI, it will be lost when restarting Odoo. Setting one via services.odoo.settings is also not recommended, since the module currently has no way to properly handle secrets (thus the password would land in the nix store). The production documentation for Odoo also recommends entirely disabling the database manager on any internet facing system.
References
Impact
Every NixOS based Odoo setup publicly exposes the database manager without any authentication. This allows unauthorized actors to delete and download the entire database, including Odoos file store.
Unauthorized access is evident from http requests. If kept, searching access logs and/or Odoos log for requests to
/web/databasecan give indicators, if this has been actively exploited.The database manager is a featured intended for development and not meant to be publicly reachable. On other setups, a master password acts as 2nd line of defence. However, due to the nature of NixOS, Odoo is not able to modify its own configuration file and thus unable to persist the auto-generated password. This also applies when manually setting a master password in the web-UI. This means, the password is lost when restarting Odoo.
When no password is set, the user is prompted to set one directly via the database manager. This requires no authentication or action by any authorized user or the system administrator. Thus, the database is effectively world readable by anyone able to reach Odoo.
Patches
NixOS unstable/26.05: #485310
NixOS 25.11: #485454
Workarounds / Remediations
The recommended fix is to entirely disable the database manager by setting
services.odoo.settings.options.list_db = false;.If an immediate update to configuration is not possible, blocking all requests targeting
/web/databasemay be used in the meantime. Disabling the database manager entirely is still the preferred long-term fix, this is also recommended by the Odoo developers.Given how the Odoo module is made, setting a master password is no appropriate fix. If set via the web-UI, it will be lost when restarting Odoo. Setting one via
services.odoo.settingsis also not recommended, since the module currently has no way to properly handle secrets (thus the password would land in the nix store). The production documentation for Odoo also recommends entirely disabling the database manager on any internet facing system.References