[Bug]: public-link files owned by deleted LDAP users cannot be downloaded after update to 34.x

⚠️ This issue respects the following points: ⚠️

• This is a bug, not a question or a configuration/webserver/proxy issue.
• This issue is not already reported on Github OR Nextcloud Community Forum (I've searched it).
• Nextcloud Server is up to date. See Maintenance and Release Schedule for supported versions.
• I agree to follow Nextcloud's Code of Conduct.

Bug description

Last known working version: 33.x
Affected version: all 34.x up to current 34.0.2.1
Storage: local home storage
Encryption: no

The public share page and directory listing work, but GET returns HTTP 503:
Sabre\DAV\Exception\ServiceUnavailable:
Could not open file ... file does seem to exist

The share owner has been deleted from LDAP and is retained as an LDAP
remnant. The file exists, has the same size as oc_filecache, belongs to
the web-server account and can be opened directly by that account.

oc_storages.id: home::john.dunlop
oc_filecache.fileid: 292012
oc_filecache.size: 3015566
oc_filecache.encrypted: 0

occ ldap:check-user:
The user does not exist on LDAP anymore

This worked for the same shares and LDAP remnants on Nextcloud 32.x
and 33.x after the LDAP user was deleted.

Steps to reproduce

1. Follow existing public link. The expected link content is shown.
2. Attempt to open or download a file
3. File downloads as zero bytes, or if a viewer is available, shows no content.

Expected behavior

Behaviour prior to 34.x update, where public links continued to work after LDAP user was deleted.

Nextcloud Server version

34

Operating system

RHEL/CentOS

PHP engine version

PHP 8.3

Web server

Apache (supported)

Database engine version

MariaDB

Is this bug present after an update or on a fresh install?

Upgraded to a MAJOR version (ex. 31 to 32)

Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

None

What user-backends are you using?

• Default user-backend (database)
• LDAP/ Active Directory
• SSO - SAML
• Other

Configuration report

./occ config:list system
{
    "system": {
        "updatechecker": false,
        "instanceid": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "passwordsalt": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "secret": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "trusted_domains": [
            "f-drive.mclh.co.uk"
        ],
        "datadirectory": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "overwrite.cli.url": "https:\/\/f-drive.mclh.co.uk",
        "overwriteprotocol": "https",
        "trusted_proxies": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "htaccess.RewriteBase": "\/",
        "dbtype": "mysql",
        "version": "34.0.2.1",
        "dbname": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbhost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbtableprefix": "oc_",
        "dbuser": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbpassword": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "logtimezone": "UTC",
        "installed": true,
        "mail_smtpmode": "smtp",
        "mail_from_address": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_domain": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtphost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtpport": "25",
        "default_locale": "en_GB",
        "default_language": "en",
        "default_phone_region": "GB",
        "knowledgebaseenabled": false,
        "allow_user_to_change_display_name": false,
        "lost_password_link": "disabled",
        "auth.webauthn.enabled": false,
        "simpleSignUpLink.shown": false,
        "ldapIgnoreNamingRules": false,
        "memcache.local": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "memcache.locking": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "redis": {
            "host": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
            "port": 6379
        },
        "filelocking.enabled": true,
        "theme": "mclh",
        "loglevel": 2,
        "enable_avatars": false,
        "maintenance": false,
        "maintenance_window_start": 1,
        "allow_user_to_change_mail_address": "",
        "mysql.utf8mb4": true,
        "app_install_overwrite": [
            "sharerenamer"
        ]
    }
}
{
    "system": {
        "updatechecker": false,
        "instanceid": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "passwordsalt": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "secret": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "trusted_domains": [
            "f-drive.mclh.co.uk"
        ],
        "datadirectory": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "overwrite.cli.url": "https:\/\/f-drive.mclh.co.uk",
        "overwriteprotocol": "https",
        "trusted_proxies": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "htaccess.RewriteBase": "\/",
        "dbtype": "mysql",
        "version": "34.0.2.1",
        "dbname": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbhost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbtableprefix": "oc_",
        "dbuser": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbpassword": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "logtimezone": "UTC",
        "installed": true,
        "mail_smtpmode": "smtp",
        "mail_from_address": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_domain": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtphost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtpport": "25",
        "default_locale": "en_GB",
        "default_language": "en",
        "default_phone_region": "GB",
        "knowledgebaseenabled": false,
        "allow_user_to_change_display_name": false,
        "lost_password_link": "disabled",
        "auth.webauthn.enabled": false,
        "simpleSignUpLink.shown": false,
        "ldapIgnoreNamingRules": false,
        "memcache.local": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "memcache.locking": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "redis": {
            "host": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
            "port": 6379
        },
        "filelocking.enabled": true,
        "theme": "mclh",
        "loglevel": 2,
        "enable_avatars": false,
        "maintenance": false,
        "maintenance_window_start": 1,
        "allow_user_to_change_mail_address": "",
        "mysql.utf8mb4": true,
        "app_install_overwrite": [
            "sharerenamer"
        ]
    }
}
{
    "system": {
        "updatechecker": false,
        "instanceid": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "passwordsalt": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "secret": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "trusted_domains": [
            "f-drive.mclh.co.uk"
        ],
        "datadirectory": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "overwrite.cli.url": "https:\/\/f-drive.mclh.co.uk",
        "overwriteprotocol": "https",
        "trusted_proxies": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "htaccess.RewriteBase": "\/",
        "dbtype": "mysql",
        "version": "34.0.2.1",
        "dbname": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbhost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbtableprefix": "oc_",
        "dbuser": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbpassword": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "logtimezone": "UTC",
        "installed": true,
        "mail_smtpmode": "smtp",
        "mail_from_address": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_domain": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtphost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtpport": "25",
        "default_locale": "en_GB",
        "default_language": "en",
        "default_phone_region": "GB",
        "knowledgebaseenabled": false,
        "allow_user_to_change_display_name": false,
        "lost_password_link": "disabled",
        "auth.webauthn.enabled": false,
        "simpleSignUpLink.shown": false,
        "ldapIgnoreNamingRules": false,
        "memcache.local": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "memcache.locking": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "redis": {
            "host": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
            "port": 6379
        },
        "filelocking.enabled": true,
        "theme": "mclh",
        "loglevel": 2,
        "enable_avatars": false,
        "maintenance": false,
        "maintenance_window_start": 1,
        "allow_user_to_change_mail_address": "",
        "mysql.utf8mb4": true,
        "app_install_overwrite": [
            "sharerenamer"
        ]
    }
}

List of activated Apps

./occ app:list
Enabled:
  - activity: 7.0.0
  - appstore: 1.0.0
  - bruteforcesettings: 7.0.0
  - cloud_federation_api: 1.18.0
  - dav: 1.39.0
  - federatedfilesharing: 1.24.0
  - files: 2.6.0
  - files_downloadlimit: 5.2.0
  - files_lock: 34.0.1
  - files_pdfviewer: 7.0.0-dev.0
  - files_reminders: 1.7.0
  - files_sharing: 1.26.0
  - files_trashbin: 1.24.0
  - impersonate: 5.0.0
  - logreader: 7.0.0
  - lookup_server_connector: 1.22.0
  - nextcloud_announcements: 6.0.0
  - notifications: 7.0.0-dev.1
  - oauth2: 1.22.0
  - office: 1.0.0
  - password_policy: 6.0.0-dev.0
  - photos: 7.0.0
  - privacy: 6.0.0-dev.1
  - profile: 1.3.0
  - provisioning_api: 1.24.0
  - recommendations: 7.0.0
  - related_resources: 5.0.0-dev.0
  - serverinfo: 6.0.0
  - settings: 1.17.0
  - sharebymail: 1.24.0
  - support: 6.0.0
  - systemtags: 1.24.0
  - text: 8.0.0
  - theming: 2.9.0
  - twofactor_backupcodes: 1.23.0
  - twofactor_totp: 16.0.0
  - updatenotification: 1.24.0
  - user_ldap: 1.25.0
  - viewer: 7.0.0-dev.0
  - webhook_listeners: 1.6.0
  - workflowengine: 2.16.0
Disabled:
  - admin_audit: 1.24.0 (installed 2.1.3)
  - app_api: 34.0.0 (installed 32.0.0)
  - circles: 34.0.0 (installed 25.0.0)
  - comments: 1.24.0 (installed 1.15.0)
  - contactsinteraction: 1.15.0 (installed 1.6.0)
  - dashboard: 7.14.0 (installed 7.5.0)
  - encryption: 2.22.0
  - federation: 1.24.0 (installed 0.1.0)
  - files_external: 1.26.0 (installed 1.17.0)
  - files_versions: 1.27.0 (installed 1.18.0)
  - firstrunwizard: 7.0.0-dev.0 (installed 1.1)
  - survey_client: 6.0.0-dev.0 (installed 1.13.0)
  - suspicious_login: 12.0.0-dev.0
  - terms_of_service: 4.6.1 (installed 4.6.1)
  - testing: 1.23.0
  - theming_customcss: 1.20.0 (installed 1.20.0)
  - twofactor_nextcloud_notification: 8.0.0
  - user_status: 1.14.0 (installed 1.5.0)
  - weather_status: 1.14.0 (installed 1.5.0)
Enabled:
  - activity: 7.0.0
  - appstore: 1.0.0
  - bruteforcesettings: 7.0.0
  - cloud_federation_api: 1.18.0
  - dav: 1.39.0
  - federatedfilesharing: 1.24.0
  - files: 2.6.0
  - files_downloadlimit: 5.2.0
  - files_lock: 34.0.1
  - files_pdfviewer: 7.0.0-dev.0
  - files_reminders: 1.7.0
  - files_sharing: 1.26.0
  - files_trashbin: 1.24.0
  - impersonate: 5.0.0
  - logreader: 7.0.0
  - lookup_server_connector: 1.22.0
  - nextcloud_announcements: 6.0.0
  - notifications: 7.0.0-dev.1
  - oauth2: 1.22.0
  - office: 1.0.0
  - password_policy: 6.0.0-dev.0
  - photos: 7.0.0
  - privacy: 6.0.0-dev.1
  - profile: 1.3.0
  - provisioning_api: 1.24.0
  - recommendations: 7.0.0
  - related_resources: 5.0.0-dev.0
  - serverinfo: 6.0.0
  - settings: 1.17.0
  - sharebymail: 1.24.0
  - support: 6.0.0
  - systemtags: 1.24.0
  - text: 8.0.0
  - theming: 2.9.0
  - twofactor_backupcodes: 1.23.0
  - twofactor_totp: 16.0.0
  - updatenotification: 1.24.0
  - user_ldap: 1.25.0
  - viewer: 7.0.0-dev.0
  - webhook_listeners: 1.6.0
  - workflowengine: 2.16.0
Disabled:
  - admin_audit: 1.24.0 (installed 2.1.3)
  - app_api: 34.0.0 (installed 32.0.0)
  - circles: 34.0.0 (installed 25.0.0)
  - comments: 1.24.0 (installed 1.15.0)
  - contactsinteraction: 1.15.0 (installed 1.6.0)
  - dashboard: 7.14.0 (installed 7.5.0)
  - encryption: 2.22.0
  - federation: 1.24.0 (installed 0.1.0)
  - files_external: 1.26.0 (installed 1.17.0)
  - files_versions: 1.27.0 (installed 1.18.0)
  - firstrunwizard: 7.0.0-dev.0 (installed 1.1)
  - survey_client: 6.0.0-dev.0 (installed 1.13.0)
  - suspicious_login: 12.0.0-dev.0
  - terms_of_service: 4.6.1 (installed 4.6.1)
  - testing: 1.23.0
  - theming_customcss: 1.20.0 (installed 1.20.0)
  - twofactor_nextcloud_notification: 8.0.0
  - user_status: 1.14.0 (installed 1.5.0)
  - weather_status: 1.14.0 (installed 1.5.0)
Enabled:
  - activity: 7.0.0
  - appstore: 1.0.0
  - bruteforcesettings: 7.0.0
  - cloud_federation_api: 1.18.0
  - dav: 1.39.0
  - federatedfilesharing: 1.24.0
  - files: 2.6.0
  - files_downloadlimit: 5.2.0
  - files_lock: 34.0.1
  - files_pdfviewer: 7.0.0-dev.0
  - files_reminders: 1.7.0
  - files_sharing: 1.26.0
  - files_trashbin: 1.24.0
  - impersonate: 5.0.0
  - logreader: 7.0.0
  - lookup_server_connector: 1.22.0
  - nextcloud_announcements: 6.0.0
  - notifications: 7.0.0-dev.1
  - oauth2: 1.22.0
  - office: 1.0.0
  - password_policy: 6.0.0-dev.0
  - photos: 7.0.0
  - privacy: 6.0.0-dev.1
  - profile: 1.3.0
  - provisioning_api: 1.24.0
  - recommendations: 7.0.0
  - related_resources: 5.0.0-dev.0
  - serverinfo: 6.0.0
  - settings: 1.17.0
  - sharebymail: 1.24.0
  - support: 6.0.0
  - systemtags: 1.24.0
  - text: 8.0.0
  - theming: 2.9.0
  - twofactor_backupcodes: 1.23.0
  - twofactor_totp: 16.0.0
  - updatenotification: 1.24.0
  - user_ldap: 1.25.0
  - viewer: 7.0.0-dev.0
  - webhook_listeners: 1.6.0
  - workflowengine: 2.16.0
Disabled:
  - admin_audit: 1.24.0 (installed 2.1.3)
  - app_api: 34.0.0 (installed 32.0.0)
  - circles: 34.0.0 (installed 25.0.0)
  - comments: 1.24.0 (installed 1.15.0)
  - contactsinteraction: 1.15.0 (installed 1.6.0)
  - dashboard: 7.14.0 (installed 7.5.0)
  - encryption: 2.22.0
  - federation: 1.24.0 (installed 0.1.0)
  - files_external: 1.26.0 (installed 1.17.0)
  - files_versions: 1.27.0 (installed 1.18.0)
  - firstrunwizard: 7.0.0-dev.0 (installed 1.1)
  - survey_client: 6.0.0-dev.0 (installed 1.13.0)
  - suspicious_login: 12.0.0-dev.0
  - terms_of_service: 4.6.1 (installed 4.6.1)
  - testing: 1.23.0
  - theming_customcss: 1.20.0 (installed 1.20.0)
  - twofactor_nextcloud_notification: 8.0.0
  - user_status: 1.14.0 (installed 1.5.0)
  - weather_status: 1.14.0 (installed 1.5.0)

Nextcloud Signing status

No errors have been found.

Nextcloud Logs

{"reqId":"anNZSR1V3I5_K_ZJ07fjSwAAAMo","level":3,"time":"2026-08-05T15:39:53+00:00","remoteAddr":"10.1.6.74","user":"--","app":"webdav","method":"GET","url":"/public.php/dav/files/Cl78txTIRt2VP8R/Books/Practical%20Guide%20to%20the%20NEC3.pdf","scriptName":"/public.php","message":"Could not open file: Books/Practical Guide to the NEC3.pdf (292012), file does seem to exist","userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/151.0.0.0 Safari/537.36","version":"34.0.2.1","exception":{"Exception":"Sabre\\DAV\\Exception\\ServiceUnavailable","Message":"Could not open file: Books/Practical Guide to the NEC3.pdf (292012), file does seem to exist","Code":0,"Trace":[{"file":"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/3rdparty/sabre/dav/lib/DAV/CorePlugin.php","line":85,"function":"get","class":"OCA\\DAV\\Connector\\Sabre\\File","type":"->"},{"file":"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/3rdparty/sabre/event/lib/WildcardEmitterTrait.php","line":89,"function":"httpGet","class":"Sabre\\DAV\\CorePlugin","type":"->"},{"file":"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/3rdparty/sabre/dav/lib/DAV/Server.php","line":472,"function":"emit","class":"Sabre\\DAV\\Server","type":"->"},{"file":"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/apps/dav/lib/Connector/Sabre/Server.php","line":215,"function":"invokeMethod","class":"Sabre\\DAV\\Server","type":"->"},{"file":"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/apps/dav/appinfo/v2/publicremote.php","line":174,"function":"start","class":"OCA\\DAV\\Connector\\Sabre\\Server","type":"->"},{"file":"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/public.php","line":90,"args":["/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/apps/dav/appinfo/v2/publicremote.php"],"function":"require_once"}],"File":"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/apps/dav/lib/Connector/Sabre/File.php","Line":488,"message":"Could not open file: Books/Practical Guide to the NEC3.pdf (292012), file does seem to exist","exception":"{\"class\":\"Sabre\\DAV\\Exception\\ServiceUnavailable\",\"message\":\"Could not open file: Books/Practical Guide to the NEC3.pdf (292012), file does seem to exist\",\"code\":0,\"file\":\"/var/www/vhosts/fdrive/apps/dav/lib/Connector/Sabre/File.php:488\",\"trace\":\"#0 /var/www/vhosts/fdrive/3rdparty/sabre/dav/lib/DAV/CorePlugin.php(85): OCA\\DAV\\Connector\\Sabre\\File->get()\\n#1 /var/www/vhosts/fdrive/3rdparty/sabre/event/lib/WildcardEmitterTrait.php(89): Sabre\\DAV\\CorePlugin->httpGet()\\n#2 /var/www/vhosts/fdrive/3rdparty/sabre/dav/lib/DAV/Server.php(472): Sabre\\DAV\\Server->emit()\\n#3 /var/www/vhosts/fdrive/apps/dav/lib/Connector/Sabre/Server.php(215): Sabre\\DAV\\Server->invokeMethod()\\n#4 /var/www/vhosts/fdrive/apps/dav/appinfo/v2/publicremote.php(174): OCA\\DAV\\Connector\\Sabre\\Server->start()\\n#5 /var/www/vhosts/fdrive/public.php(90): require_once('...')\\n#6 {main}\"}","CustomMessage":"Could not open file: Books/Practical Guide to the NEC3.pdf (292012), file does seem to exist"}}

Additional info

No response

Start by reproducing the listed public-link GET failure for a file owned by an LDAP user retained as a remnant, using the public share page and occ ldap:check-user output. Trace the download path for local home storage and compare behavior with Nextcloud 33.x; done means the existing public link downloads nonzero file content again.