[Bug]: Contacts menu broken if uids in oc_cards contain slashes

[michaellass]

⚠️ 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

Some contacts stored in the oc_cards table of my Nextcloud instance have a URL as uid. This breaks the contacts menu and causes the following warning in nextcloud.log:

Parameter "contact" for route "contacts.contacts.direct" must match "[^/]++" ("https://Username@mycloud.example.org/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/Username/contacts/d9efda0aea.vcf~contacts" given) to generate a corresponding URL.

Full error message (formatted and slightly anonymized)

{
    "reqId": "Lin5UlVlVkZHuCShLZem",
    "level": 3,
    "time": "2024-05-10T09:25:33+00:00",
    "remoteAddr": "0.0.0.0", // anonymized
    "user": "Username", // anonymized
    "app": "index",
    "method": "POST",
    "url": "/index.php/contactsmenu/contacts",
    "message": "Parameter \"contact\" for route \"contacts.contacts.direct\" must match \"[^/]++\" (\"https://Username@mycloud.example.org/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/Username/contacts/d9efda0aea.vcf~contacts\" given) to generate a corresponding URL.",
    "userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.15; rv:125.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/125.0",
    "version": "28.0.5.1",
    "exception": {
        "Exception": "Symfony\\Component\\Routing\\Exception\\InvalidParameterException",
        "Message": "Parameter \"contact\" for route \"contacts.contacts.direct\" must match \"[^/]++\" (\"https://Username@mycloud.example.org/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/Username/contacts/d9efda0aea.vcf~contacts\" given) to generate a corresponding URL.",
        "Code": 0,
        "Trace": [{
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/3rdparty/symfony/routing/Generator/UrlGenerator.php",
            "line": 161,
            "function": "doGenerate",
            "class": "Symfony\\Component\\Routing\\Generator\\UrlGenerator",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Route/Router.php",
            "line": 372,
            "function": "generate",
            "class": "Symfony\\Component\\Routing\\Generator\\UrlGenerator",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Route/CachingRouter.php",
            "line": 65,
            "function": "generate",
            "class": "OC\\Route\\Router",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/URLGenerator.php",
            "line": 103,
            "function": "generate",
            "class": "OC\\Route\\CachingRouter",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/apps/contacts/lib/ContactsMenu/Providers/DetailsProvider.php",
            "line": 112,
            "function": "linkToRoute",
            "class": "OC\\URLGenerator",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Contacts/ContactsMenu/Manager.php",
            "line": 114,
            "function": "process",
            "class": "OCA\\Contacts\\ContactsMenu\\Providers\\DetailsProvider",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Contacts/ContactsMenu/Manager.php",
            "line": 58,
            "function": "processEntries",
            "class": "OC\\Contacts\\ContactsMenu\\Manager",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/core/Controller/ContactsMenuController.php",
            "line": 51,
            "function": "getEntries",
            "class": "OC\\Contacts\\ContactsMenu\\Manager",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/AppFramework/Http/Dispatcher.php",
            "line": 230,
            "function": "index",
            "class": "OC\\Core\\Controller\\ContactsMenuController",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/AppFramework/Http/Dispatcher.php",
            "line": 137,
            "function": "executeController",
            "class": "OC\\AppFramework\\Http\\Dispatcher",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/AppFramework/App.php",
            "line": 184,
            "function": "dispatch",
            "class": "OC\\AppFramework\\Http\\Dispatcher",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/private/Route/Router.php",
            "line": 315,
            "function": "main",
            "class": "OC\\AppFramework\\App",
            "type": "::"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/lib/base.php",
            "line": 1069,
            "function": "match",
            "class": "OC\\Route\\Router",
            "type": "->"
        }, {
            "file": "/var/www/nextcloud/index.php",
            "line": 39,
            "function": "handleRequest",
            "class": "OC",
            "type": "::"
        }],
        "File": "/var/www/nextcloud/3rdparty/symfony/routing/Generator/UrlGenerator.php",
        "Line": 194,
        "message": "Parameter \"contact\" for route \"contacts.contacts.direct\" must match \"[^/]++\" (\"https://Username@mycloud.example.org/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/Username/contacts/d9efda0aea.vcf~contacts\" given) to generate a corresponding URL.",
        "exception": {},
        "CustomMessage": "Parameter \"contact\" for route \"contacts.contacts.direct\" must match \"[^/]++\" (\"https://Username@mycloud.example.org/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/Username/contacts/d9efda0aea.vcf~contacts\" given) to generate a corresponding URL."
    }
}

The entry with uri "d9efda0aea.vcf" in the oc_cards table in this example has a uid of "https://Username@mycloud.example.org/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/Username/contacts/d9efda0aea.vcf".

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a contact with a uid that contains slashes (e.g., a URL). I don't know how these entries were created in my case.
2. Log into the Nextcloud web interface.

Expected behavior

No errors should be produced and the contacts menu should work.

Installation method

None

Nextcloud Server version

28

Operating system

Debian/Ubuntu

PHP engine version

PHP 8.2

Web server

Nginx

Database engine version

MariaDB

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

None

Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

Encryption is Disabled

What user-backends are you using?

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

Configuration report

{
    "system": {
        "instanceid": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "passwordsalt": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "datadirectory": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbtype": "mysql",
        "version": "28.0.5.1",
        "dbname": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbhost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbtableprefix": "oc_",
        "dbuser": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbpassword": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "installed": true,
        "loglevel": 0,
        "theme": "",
        "maintenance": false,
        "trusted_domains": [
            "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***"
        ],
        "secret": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "trashbin_retention_obligation": "auto, 30",
        "versions_retention_obligation": "auto, 30",
        "updatechecker": true,
        "appstore.experimental.enabled": false,
        "mail_smtpmode": "smtp",
        "overwrite.cli.url": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_from_address": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtpauthtype": "PLAIN",
        "mail_domain": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtphost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtpport": "25",
        "updater.release.channel": "stable",
        "mysql.utf8mb4": true,
        "memcache.local": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "memcache.locking": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "redis": {
            "host": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
            "port": 0,
            "dbindex": 0,
            "password": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
            "timeout": 1.5
        },
        "default_phone_region": "DE",
        "preview_max_x": 1024,
        "preview_max_y": 1024,
        "preview_max_filesize_image": 5,
        "maintenance_window_start": 2
    }
}

List of activated Apps

Enabled:
  - activity: 2.20.0
  - calendar: 4.7.3
  - cloud_federation_api: 1.11.0
  - contacts: 5.5.3
  - dav: 1.29.1
  - federatedfilesharing: 1.18.0
  - files: 2.0.0
  - files_pdfviewer: 2.9.0
  - files_reminders: 1.1.0
  - files_sharing: 1.20.0
  - files_trashbin: 1.18.0
  - files_versions: 1.21.0
  - logreader: 2.13.0
  - lookup_server_connector: 1.16.0
  - notes: 4.10.0
  - notifications: 2.16.0
  - oauth2: 1.16.3
  - password_policy: 1.18.0
  - photos: 2.4.0
  - privacy: 1.12.0
  - provisioning_api: 1.18.0
  - recommendations: 2.0.0
  - related_resources: 1.3.0
  - settings: 1.10.1
  - sharebymail: 1.18.0
  - survey_client: 1.16.0
  - tasks: 0.16.0
  - text: 3.9.1
  - theming: 2.3.0
  - twofactor_backupcodes: 1.17.0
  - twofactor_totp: 10.0.0-beta.2
  - updatenotification: 1.18.0
  - viewer: 2.2.0
  - workflowengine: 2.10.0
Disabled:
  - admin_audit: 1.18.0
  - bruteforcesettings: 2.8.0 (installed 1.0.2)
  - circles: 28.0.0 (installed 27.0.1)
  - comments: 1.18.0 (installed 1.17.0)
  - contactsinteraction: 1.9.0 (installed 1.8.0)
  - dashboard: 7.8.0 (installed 7.7.0)
  - encryption: 2.16.0
  - federation: 1.18.0 (installed 1.17.0)
  - files_external: 1.20.0
  - firstrunwizard: 2.17.0 (installed 2.16.0)
  - nextcloud_announcements: 1.17.0 (installed 1.16.0)
  - serverinfo: 1.18.0 (installed 1.17.0)
  - support: 1.11.1 (installed 1.10.0)
  - suspicious_login: 6.0.0
  - systemtags: 1.18.0 (installed 1.17.0)
  - user_ldap: 1.19.0
  - user_status: 1.8.1 (installed 1.7.0)
  - weather_status: 1.8.0 (installed 1.7.0)

Nextcloud Signing status

No errors have been found.

Nextcloud Logs

(see problem description)

Additional info

No response

[ShivaSystem]

I have exactly the same problem

[pswilde]

I've been having this same problem, it's a real nuisance error message, but I don't think it has any real impact on anything - but I am certainly no expert!

Anyway, I think I've got rid of my error here by doing a bit of database admin:
I use postgres as db backend, but the basic statements should be the same.
first, find the properties that have a slash in them:

select * from oc_cards_properties where name = 'UID' and value like '%/%';

this will likely show you a list of contact properties where the UID contains a slash - take note of the "cardid" for them all
Then, take a record of the contact properties of the above:

select * from oc_cards_properties where cardid in ( ## a comma separated list of the ids from the previous select statement, i.e. 10,42,43... ## );

take note of this information, as you're going to delete the contact and re-add it
delete the problem contacts

delete from oc_cards_properties where cardid in (## comma separated id list as above ##);
# and #
delete from oc_cards where cardid in (## comma separated id list as above ##);

That should remove the problem contacts from the database, then just simply re-add the contacts from the nextcloud contacts front end - they should get added with correct UIDs without slashes

Of course, this assumes you have access to the database, if you don't then I'm not really sure what you can do here as you can't even delete the contacts as they won't be showing in the contacts list.

[michaellass]

Of course, this assumes you have access to the database, if you don't then I'm not really sure what you can do here as you can't even delete the contacts as they won't be showing in the contacts list.

For me, all contacts are shown correctly in the Contacts app and can be accessed. I think it is just the contacts menu (and maybe the global search) in the Nextcloud main interface that struggles with this.

[Armin-Gips]

I also have no errors in the application. But the error log reports this error dozens of times!

[rawiweb]

From rfc6350
6.7.6. UID
Purpose: To specify a value that represents a globally unique
identifier corresponding to the entity associated with the vCard.
Value type: A single URI value. It MAY also be reset to free-form
text.
Cardinality: *1
Special notes: This property is used to uniquely identify the object
that the vCard represents. The "uuid" URN namespace defined in
[RFC4122] is particularly well suited to this task, but other URI
schemes MAY be used. Free-form text MAY also be used.
ABNF:
UID-param = UID-uri-param / UID-text-param
UID-value = UID-uri-value / UID-text-value
; Value and parameter MUST match.
UID-uri-param = "VALUE=uri"
UID-uri-value = URI
UID-text-param = "VALUE=text"
UID-text-value = text
UID-param =/ any-param

Since the UID can be an URI (which contains slashes) it is a bug, the UID may be created by other software.
I imorted my contacts (a few hundred) from Turba (Horde) and the vcard file contains the URI which is then imported.

InvalidParameterException Parameter "contact" for route "contacts.contacts.direct" must match "[^/]++" ("SOME URL from the vCard" given) to generate a corresponding URL.

1. /3rdparty/symfony/routing/Generator/UrlGenerator.phpLine 161
   Symfony\Component\Routing\Generator\UrlGenerator->doGenerate()
2. /lib/private/Route/Router.phpLine 366
   Symfony\Component\Routing\Generator\UrlGenerator->generate()
3. /lib/private/Route/CachingRouter.phpLine 50
   OC\Route\Router->generate()
4. /lib/private/URLGenerator.phpLine 71
   OC\Route\CachingRouter->generate()
5. /apps/contacts/lib/ContactsMenu/Providers/DetailsProvider.phpLine 95
   OC\URLGenerator->linkToRoute()
6. /lib/private/Contacts/ContactsMenu/Manager.phpLine 94
   OCA\Contacts\ContactsMenu\Providers\DetailsProvider->process()
7. /lib/private/Contacts/ContactsMenu/Manager.phpLine 38
   OC\Contacts\ContactsMenu\Manager->processEntries()
8. /core/Controller/ContactsMenuController.phpLine 34
   OC\Contacts\ContactsMenu\Manager->getEntries()
9. /lib/private/AppFramework/Http/Dispatcher.phpLine 208
   OC\Core\Controller\ContactsMenuController->index()
10. /lib/private/AppFramework/Http/Dispatcher.phpLine 114
    OC\AppFramework\Http\Dispatcher->executeController()
11. /lib/private/AppFramework/App.phpLine 161
    OC\AppFramework\Http\Dispatcher->dispatch()
12. /lib/private/Route/Router.phpLine 302
    OC\AppFramework\App::main()
13. /lib/base.phpLine 1001
    OC\Route\Router->match()
14. /index.phpLine 24
    OC::handleRequest()

UPDATE:
Take your addressbook, export all contacts to a single vcf file
then search replace the OFFENDING slashes with nothing using a text editor
delete all contacts in the NC adressbook
reimport the edited vcf file
then the contactsmenu works

[daniellandau]

I have had the same database since ownCloud 8 I think and I have no idea how these faulty UIDs ended up in my database messing up my unified search.

I cleaned it up with some variations of the following SQL statements. I have no idea why some had /automatic/ and some /contacts/ in there. There were also for me some lines with a previous NEXTCLOUD_ADDRESS and some with my current NEXTCLOUD_ADDRESS

update oc_cards_properties set value = replace(value, "https://USERNAME@NEXTCLOUD_ADDRESS/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/USERNAME/contacts/", "")  where name = 'UID' and value like '%/%';
update oc_cards set carddata = regexp_replace(carddata, "UID:https://USERNAME@NEXTCLOUD_ADDRESS/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/USERNAME\r\n /contacts/", "UID:") where carddata like '%UID:htt%';
update oc_cards set carddata = regexp_replace(carddata, "UID:https://USERNAME@NEXTCLOUD_ADDRESS/remote.php/carddav/addressbooks/USERNAME\r\n /automatic/", "UID:") where carddata like '%UID:htt%';

[michaellass]

I have had the same database since ownCloud 8 I think and I have no idea how these faulty UIDs ended up in my database messing up my unified search.

Thanks for sharing your SQL commands. I guess changing the data like this is needed to fix those errors. However, I would not agree with the term "faulty UIDs". As @sambibot quotet, URIs are perfectly valid UIDs. Not being able to handle them is a bug in Nextcloud.

[michaellass]

Turns out this was actually a bug in the contacts app: nextcloud/contacts#4603

And it has been fixed: nextcloud/contacts#4615

🎉