[Bug] Some users cannot download PDF files using Google Chrome (now reproducible with demo + VM)

Seafile Client
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1

I have a folder on seafile which I have shared as a public link.
No password protection, preview and download enabled.

Both preview and download works for me and other users for all file types (including external without a seafile account, since the link was shared publicly).

However, for some users, they cannot download PDF files from the shared link when using Google Chrome.

visual-for-download-pdf
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Other file types, e.g. Power Point (PPTX) can be downloaded as usual.

I have access to 1 of the affected user’s devices, which runs Windows 11.
On it, the following works

  1. :white_check_mark: On Chrome, using the ZIP button (or selecting the files clicking ZIP Selected Items)
  2. :white_check_mark: Using a different browser (Microsoft Edge) - downloading individual files as usual

and the following do not work:

  1. :x: Using Chrome Incognito
  2. :x: Using a different Chrome Profile
  3. :x: Updating Chrome from v88 to 138.0.7204.101
  4. :x: Disabling cache, hard refresh, clearing cookies/local storage in developer tools (F12)

Oddly, we have other users with identical laptops as this affected user, managed by the same MSP, yet they are able to download just fine.

Also, the status code being returned is 200 and there is no log output in the developer console.
Clicking the button simply does nothing, and right click + open new tab shows a blank screen.

Seafile Version: 12.0.11
Hosted on a Hetzner VPS running Dokploy, which uses Docker, Traefik & Let’s Encrypt.
The Dokploy template is from pull request #135 from Dokploy’s GitHub repository.

2

I also thought it could be a problem with having Cloudflare Proxy enabled for my domain, similar to the Cloudflare issue #376535 reported here:

image
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However, the issue persists even after turning off proxy (i.e. “DNS-only”).

3

I can observe the same issue on my machine (Debian 12, Chrome) with SeaTable Cloud. I have already spent hours trying to debug, to no avail.

There are no error messages in the browser console, no anomalies in the server log. So it’s the need in the haystack. I deleted the browser cache, modified browser settings, uninstalled the browser - nothing

I eventually gave up and switch to Edge. With Edge, I can download PDF documents.

The problem started out of the blue. Other users can use SeaTable Cloud like usual. So it is no general server side issue.

I am aware of one more user that has the problem. They too didn’t find a solution.

1 Like
4

More relevations:

  1. It’s not limited to the share link - I was able to reproduce it with a logged-in user viewing their own library

  2. It’s not just version 12 - the bug exists in even in the latest version (13.0.7) on the demo site (Log In - Seafile Demo)

  3. I was able to reproduce using a Windows 11 Virtual Machine on my Mac through UTM

    image
    image2954Ă—1714 190 KB

DEMO:

For example, visiting this URL in other browsers (and my Chrome natively) does download the PDF, but not my virtual machine (or a few of my users):

Seafile 13.0 community edition is ready for testing!