[Bug]: Multiple nextcloud processes filling all system memory

[ralmond]

⚠️ Before submitting, please verify the following: ⚠️

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

Bug description

I've noticed several times that my system fills up the memory and swap and hence slows to a crawl. When I list the processes, I've noticed multiple copies of /usr/bin/nextcloud each using a large amount of memory.
...

Steps to reproduce

1. Launch desktop (Gnome 49, Wayland)
2. Nextcloud desktop client automatically launches.
3. Problem occurs without any specific input.

Expected behavior

I expect only one (or perhaps 2 if during an active upload/download) copies of /usr/bin/nextcloud to run at once. I expect that they will free any memory they are using

Which files are affected by this bug

Unknown

Operating system

Linux

Which version of the operating system you are running.

Pop!_OS 24.04 LTS, x86_64

Package

Distro package manager

Nextcloud Server version

31.0.7

Nextcloud Desktop Client version

33.0.0-20260326.054717.659bb51b22-1.0~noble1

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

Updated from a minor version (ex. 3.16.1 to 3.16.2)

Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

Encryption is Enabled

Are you using an external user-backend?

• Default internal user-backend
• LDAP/ Active Directory
• SSO - SAML
• Other

Nextcloud Server logs

Error
	no app in context
	
Capabilities of OCA\CloudFederationAPI\Capabilities took 0.87 seconds to generate.
	Mar 30, 2026, 7:20:17 PM
	
Warning
	cron
	
Used memory grew by more than 50 MB when executing job OCA\DAV\BackgroundJob\RefreshWebcalJob (id: 30114, arguments: {"principaluri":"principals\/users\/admin","uri":"calendargooglecom"}): 181.4 MB (before: 36.9 MB)
	Mar 30, 2026, 5:56:47 PM
	
Warning
	cron
	
Used memory grew by more than 50 MB when executing job OCA\DAV\BackgroundJob\RefreshWebcalJob (id: 30114, arguments: {"principaluri":"principals\/users\/admin","uri":"calendargooglecom"}): 181.4 MB (before: 36.9 MB)
	Mar 30, 2026, 5:56:47 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /zalmond/files/Photos: File by id 42 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /zalmond/files/Family: File by id 11319 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /ralmond/files/Photos: File by id 42 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /ralmond/files/Family: File by id 11319 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /hralmond/files/Photos: File by id 42 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /hralmond/files/Family: File by id 11319 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /zalmond/files/Photos: File by id 42 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM
	
Error
	memories
	
Failed to index folder /zalmond/files/Family: File by id 11319 not found
	Mar 30, 2026, 3:38:49 PM

Additional info

Problem occurred around Mar 30, after

20260330_1830_nextcloud.log.0.gz

20260330_1830_nextcloud.log.1.gz

20260330_1830_nextcloud.log.2.gz

5:56 PM, so the warnings may be relevant.

[nilsding]

duplicate of #9685 which is resolved with #9697 (released in 33.0.1)