A flaw in the integration between Dropbox and Lenovo ID allowed attackers to compromise around 5,000 accounts between August 4 and August 21, 2026, without needing the victims' original passwords.
The vulnerability resided in the federated authentication process. Attackers could register a Lenovo ID using an email address already linked to a Dropbox account because the system failed to properly verify ownership of that address. Once registered, they simply selected the Lenovo ID login option on Dropbox. Because Dropbox trusted the identity asserted by the external service, the email was automatically bound to the existing account, creating an authenticated session without any password prompt.
Only accounts that had previously enabled the Lenovo ID integration and did not have two-factor authentication turned on were exposed. In less than one-third of the affected cases, attackers viewed or downloaded files stored in the compromised accounts.
Lenovo characterized the problem as related to a legacy integration that could incorrectly authenticate certain Dropbox accounts. The company confirmed that its own customers were not directly affected and said it continues to investigate the incident.
After detecting the activity, Dropbox immediately terminated all active sessions authenticated through Lenovo ID, removed the existing associations between the two platforms, and modified the login flow to require the Dropbox password before granting access. The company advised affected users to change their Dropbox and associated email passwords, enable two-factor verification, and review active sessions, connected applications, shared links, and recent file activity.


