[PR #23721] feat: encrypt user valve values at rest using Fernet #50381

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GiteaMirror · 2026-04-30T03:04:49-05:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-04-30 03:04:49 -05:00

📋 Pull Request Information

Original PR: https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/pull/23721
Author: @ethan-l-geotab
Created: 4/14/2026
Status: 🔄 Open

Base: dev ← Head: feature/encrypt-user-valves

📝 Commits (1)

8cf75e5 feat: encrypt user valve values at rest using Fernet

📊 Changes

4 files changed (+169 additions, -6 deletions)

View changed files

➕ backend/open_webui/internal/migrations/019_encrypt_user_valves.py (+116 -0)
📝 backend/open_webui/models/functions.py (+5 -3)
📝 backend/open_webui/models/tools.py (+5 -3)
➕ backend/open_webui/utils/valve_encryption.py (+43 -0)

📄 Description

Pull Request Checklist

Note to first-time contributors: Please open a discussion post in Discussions to discuss your idea/fix with the community before creating a pull request, and describe your changes before submitting a pull request.

This is to ensure large feature PRs are discussed with the community first, before starting work on it. If the community does not want this feature or it is not relevant for Open WebUI as a project, it can be identified in the discussion before working on the feature and submitting the PR.

Before submitting, make sure you've checked the following:

Target branch: Verify that the pull request targets the dev branch. PRs targeting main will be immediately closed.
Description: Provide a concise description of the changes made in this pull request down below.
Changelog: Ensure a changelog entry following the format of Keep a Changelog is added at the bottom of the PR description.
Documentation: Add docs in Open WebUI Docs Repository. Document user-facing behavior, environment variables, public APIs/interfaces, or deployment steps.
Dependencies: Are there any new or upgraded dependencies? If so, explain why, update the changelog/docs, and include any compatibility notes. Actually run the code/function that uses updated library to ensure it doesn't crash.
Testing: Perform manual tests to verify the implemented fix/feature works as intended AND does not break any other functionality. Include reproducible steps to demonstrate the issue before the fix. Test edge cases (URL encoding, HTML entities, types). Take this as an opportunity to make screenshots of the feature/fix and include them in the PR description.
Agentic AI Code: Confirm this Pull Request is not written by any AI Agent or has at least gone through additional human review AND manual testing. If any AI Agent is the co-author of this PR, it may lead to immediate closure of the PR.
Code review: Have you performed a self-review of your code, addressing any coding standard issues and ensuring adherence to the project's coding standards?
Design & Architecture: Prefer smart defaults over adding new settings; use local state for ephemeral UI logic. Open a Discussion for major architectural or UX changes.
Git Hygiene: Keep PRs atomic (one logical change). Clean up commits and rebase on dev to ensure no unrelated commits (e.g. from main) are included. Push updates to the existing PR branch instead of closing and reopening.
Title Prefix: To clearly categorize this pull request, prefix the pull request title using one of the following:
- BREAKING CHANGE: Significant changes that may affect compatibility
- build: Changes that affect the build system or external dependencies
- ci: Changes to our continuous integration processes or workflows
- chore: Refactor, cleanup, or other non-functional code changes
- docs: Documentation update or addition
- feat: Introduces a new feature or enhancement to the codebase
- fix: Bug fix or error correction
- i18n: Internationalization or localization changes
- perf: Performance improvement
- refactor: Code restructuring for better maintainability, readability, or scalability
- style: Changes that do not affect the meaning of the code (white space, formatting, missing semi-colons, etc.)
- test: Adding missing tests or correcting existing tests
- WIP: Work in progress, a temporary label for incomplete or ongoing work

Changelog Entry

Description

User valves (per-user API keys and configuration for tools and functions) are stored as plaintext JSON in the user.settings column in the database. This is a security concern since valve values often contain sensitive data such as API keys. This PR adds Fernet symmetric encryption at the model layer so user valve data is encrypted at rest, while remaining fully transparent to the API and UI layers.

Related issue: https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/issues/20852 (complementary — that issue covers UI password masking, this covers at-rest encryption)

Added

backend/open_webui/utils/crypto.py — Fernet-based encrypt_user_valves() and decrypt_user_valves() helpers, using WEBUI_SECRET_KEY for encryption with automatic key derivation
Migration 019_encrypt_user_valves.py to encrypt all existing plaintext valve data in-place on upgrade using raw SQL (avoids Peewee ORM schema mismatches)
Backward compatibility: decrypt_user_valves() transparently handles both legacy plaintext dicts and encrypted strings, so no data loss occurs during the transition

Changed

backend/open_webui/models/tools.py — get_user_valves_by_id_and_user_id() now decrypts on read; update_user_valves_by_id_and_user_id() now encrypts on write
backend/open_webui/models/functions.py — Same encrypt-on-write / decrypt-on-read wiring for function user valves

Deprecated

N/A

Removed

N/A

Fixed

N/A

Security

User valve values (API keys, tokens, credentials) are now encrypted at rest using Fernet symmetric encryption, reducing exposure in the event of a database dump or unauthorized database access
Follows the same encryption pattern already used by OAuth session tokens (oauth_sessions.py) and OAuth client info (oauth.py) in the codebase

Breaking Changes

N/A — fully backward compatible. Existing plaintext valve data is read transparently and encrypted on next write or during migration 019.

Additional Information

No new dependencies — uses cryptography library which is already a project dependency (used by OAuth encryption)
Uses WEBUI_SECRET_KEY directly for encryption, consistent with the existing OAuth encryption pattern
Migration 019 uses raw SQL (SELECT id, settings FROM "user") instead of the Peewee ORM to avoid schema mismatch issues with columns that may have been added or removed between versions

Screenshots or Videos

N/A (backend-only change, no UI modifications)

Contributor License Agreement

By submitting this pull request, I confirm that I have read and fully agree to the Contributor License Agreement (CLA), and I am providing my contributions under its terms.

Note

Deleting the CLA section will lead to immediate closure of your PR and it will not be merged in.

_{🔄 This issue represents a GitHub Pull Request. It cannot be merged through Gitea due to API limitations.}

## 📋 Pull Request Information **Original PR:** https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/pull/23721 **Author:** [@ethan-l-geotab](https://github.com/ethan-l-geotab) **Created:** 4/14/2026 **Status:** 🔄 Open **Base:** `dev` ← **Head:** `feature/encrypt-user-valves` --- ### 📝 Commits (1) - [`8cf75e5`](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/commit/8cf75e5c18bb26763b5979b9586cadad522ca93a) feat: encrypt user valve values at rest using Fernet ### 📊 Changes **4 files changed** (+169 additions, -6 deletions) <details> <summary>View changed files</summary> ➕ `backend/open_webui/internal/migrations/019_encrypt_user_valves.py` (+116 -0) 📝 `backend/open_webui/models/functions.py` (+5 -3) 📝 `backend/open_webui/models/tools.py` (+5 -3) ➕ `backend/open_webui/utils/valve_encryption.py` (+43 -0) </details> ### 📄 Description  # Pull Request Checklist ### Note to first-time contributors: Please open a discussion post in [Discussions](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/discussions) to discuss your idea/fix with the community before creating a pull request, and describe your changes before submitting a pull request. This is to ensure large feature PRs are discussed with the community first, before starting work on it. If the community does not want this feature or it is not relevant for Open WebUI as a project, it can be identified in the discussion before working on the feature and submitting the PR. **Before submitting, make sure you've checked the following:** - [x] **Target branch:** Verify that the pull request targets the `dev` branch. **PRs targeting `main` will be immediately closed.** - [x] **Description:** Provide a concise description of the changes made in this pull request down below. - [x] **Changelog:** Ensure a changelog entry following the format of [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/) is added at the bottom of the PR description. - [ ] **Documentation:** Add docs in [Open WebUI Docs Repository](https://github.com/open-webui/docs). Document user-facing behavior, environment variables, public APIs/interfaces, or deployment steps. - [x] **Dependencies:** Are there any new or upgraded dependencies? If so, explain why, update the changelog/docs, and include any compatibility notes. Actually run the code/function that uses updated library to ensure it doesn't crash. - [x] **Testing:** Perform manual tests to **verify the implemented fix/feature works as intended AND does not break any other functionality**. Include reproducible steps to demonstrate the issue before the fix. Test edge cases (URL encoding, HTML entities, types). Take this as an opportunity to **make screenshots of the feature/fix and include them in the PR description**. - [x] **Agentic AI Code:** Confirm this Pull Request is **not written by any AI Agent** or has at least **gone through additional human review AND manual testing**. If any AI Agent is the co-author of this PR, it may lead to immediate closure of the PR. - [x] **Code review:** Have you performed a self-review of your code, addressing any coding standard issues and ensuring adherence to the project's coding standards? - [x] **Design & Architecture:** Prefer smart defaults over adding new settings; use local state for ephemeral UI logic. Open a Discussion for major architectural or UX changes. - [x] **Git Hygiene:** Keep PRs atomic (one logical change). Clean up commits and rebase on `dev` to ensure no unrelated commits (e.g. from `main`) are included. Push updates to the existing PR branch instead of closing and reopening. - [x] **Title Prefix:** To clearly categorize this pull request, prefix the pull request title using one of the following: - **BREAKING CHANGE**: Significant changes that may affect compatibility - **build**: Changes that affect the build system or external dependencies - **ci**: Changes to our continuous integration processes or workflows - **chore**: Refactor, cleanup, or other non-functional code changes - **docs**: Documentation update or addition - **feat**: Introduces a new feature or enhancement to the codebase - **fix**: Bug fix or error correction - **i18n**: Internationalization or localization changes - **perf**: Performance improvement - **refactor**: Code restructuring for better maintainability, readability, or scalability - **style**: Changes that do not affect the meaning of the code (white space, formatting, missing semi-colons, etc.) - **test**: Adding missing tests or correcting existing tests - **WIP**: Work in progress, a temporary label for incomplete or ongoing work # Changelog Entry ### Description User valves (per-user API keys and configuration for tools and functions) are stored as plaintext JSON in the `user.settings` column in the database. This is a security concern since valve values often contain sensitive data such as API keys. This PR adds Fernet symmetric encryption at the model layer so user valve data is encrypted at rest, while remaining fully transparent to the API and UI layers. Related issue: https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/issues/20852 (complementary — that issue covers UI password masking, this covers at-rest encryption) ### Added - `backend/open_webui/utils/crypto.py` — Fernet-based `encrypt_user_valves()` and `decrypt_user_valves()` helpers, using `WEBUI_SECRET_KEY` for encryption with automatic key derivation - Migration `019_encrypt_user_valves.py` to encrypt all existing plaintext valve data in-place on upgrade using raw SQL (avoids Peewee ORM schema mismatches) - Backward compatibility: `decrypt_user_valves()` transparently handles both legacy plaintext dicts and encrypted strings, so no data loss occurs during the transition ### Changed - `backend/open_webui/models/tools.py` — `get_user_valves_by_id_and_user_id()` now decrypts on read; `update_user_valves_by_id_and_user_id()` now encrypts on write - `backend/open_webui/models/functions.py` — Same encrypt-on-write / decrypt-on-read wiring for function user valves ### Deprecated - N/A ### Removed - N/A ### Fixed - N/A ### Security - User valve values (API keys, tokens, credentials) are now encrypted at rest using Fernet symmetric encryption, reducing exposure in the event of a database dump or unauthorized database access - Follows the same encryption pattern already used by OAuth session tokens (`oauth_sessions.py`) and OAuth client info (`oauth.py`) in the codebase ### Breaking Changes - N/A — fully backward compatible. Existing plaintext valve data is read transparently and encrypted on next write or during migration 019. --- ### Additional Information - No new dependencies — uses `cryptography` library which is already a project dependency (used by OAuth encryption) - Uses `WEBUI_SECRET_KEY` directly for encryption, consistent with the existing OAuth encryption pattern - Migration 019 uses raw SQL (`SELECT id, settings FROM "user"`) instead of the Peewee ORM to avoid schema mismatch issues with columns that may have been added or removed between versions ### Screenshots or Videos - N/A (backend-only change, no UI modifications) ### Contributor License Agreement  - [x] By submitting this pull request, I confirm that I have read and fully agree to the [Contributor License Agreement (CLA)](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/blob/main/CONTRIBUTOR_LICENSE_AGREEMENT), and I am providing my contributions under its terms. > [!NOTE] > Deleting the CLA section will lead to immediate closure of your PR and it will not be merged in. --- <sub>🔄 This issue represents a GitHub Pull Request. It cannot be merged through Gitea due to API limitations.</sub>

GiteaMirror added the pull-request label 2026-04-30 03:04:50 -05:00

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Reference: github-starred/open-webui#50381