fix(memory): don't let update() metadata overwrite user_id/agent_id/run_id (#6278)

Co-authored-by: kartik-mem0 <kartik.labhshetwar@mem0.ai>

mem0/memory/main.py

@@ -134,6 +134,20 @@ _SENSITIVE_SUFFIXES = (
 # Entity parameters that must be passed via filters, not top-level kwargs
 ENTITY_PARAMS = frozenset({"user_id", "agent_id", "run_id"})
 
+# Tenant-scoping fields that update() must never let caller-supplied metadata overwrite (issues #4490, #6277).
+_IDENTITY_KEYS = ENTITY_PARAMS | {"actor_id"}
+
+
+def _strip_identity_keys(metadata: Dict[str, Any], existing_payload: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    """Drop identity keys from caller metadata; they are immutable after creation (issues #4490, #6277)."""
+    clean = {}
+    for key, value in metadata.items():
+        if key not in _IDENTITY_KEYS:
+            clean[key] = value
+        elif value != existing_payload.get(key):
+            logger.warning(f"update(): ignoring metadata['{key}'] - identity fields are immutable after creation")
+    return clean
+
 
 def _reject_top_level_entity_params(kwargs: Dict[str, Any], method_name: str) -> None:
     """Reject top-level entity parameters - must use filters instead."""
@@ -1783,6 +1797,8 @@ class Memory(MemoryBase):
             memory_id (str): ID of the memory to update.
             text (str, optional): New content to update the memory with.
             metadata (dict, optional): Metadata to update with the memory. Defaults to None.
+                ``user_id``/``agent_id``/``run_id``/``actor_id`` are ignored here - they are
+                immutable after creation.
             expiration_date (Any, optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format, or None to clear it.
             data (str, optional): Deprecated alias for ``text``. Will be removed in the next
                 major release; use ``text`` instead.
@@ -1991,7 +2007,7 @@ class Memory(MemoryBase):
 
         new_metadata = deepcopy(existing_memory.payload)
         if metadata is not None:
-            new_metadata.update(metadata)
+            new_metadata.update(_strip_identity_keys(metadata, existing_memory.payload))
 
         new_metadata["data"] = data
         new_metadata["hash"] = hashlib.md5(data.encode()).hexdigest()
@@ -1999,10 +2015,6 @@ class Memory(MemoryBase):
         new_metadata["created_at"] = existing_memory.payload.get("created_at")
         new_metadata["updated_at"] = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
 
-        # actor_id is immutable after creation (issue #4490)
-        if "actor_id" in existing_memory.payload:
-            new_metadata["actor_id"] = existing_memory.payload["actor_id"]
-
         if data in existing_embeddings:
             embeddings = existing_embeddings[data]
         else:
@@ -3414,6 +3426,8 @@ class AsyncMemory(MemoryBase):
             memory_id (str): ID of the memory to update.
             text (str, optional): New content to update the memory with.
             metadata (dict, optional): Metadata to update with the memory. Defaults to None.
+                ``user_id``/``agent_id``/``run_id``/``actor_id`` are ignored here - they are
+                immutable after creation.
             expiration_date (Any, optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format, or None to clear it.
             data (str, optional): Deprecated alias for ``text``. Will be removed in the next
                 major release; use ``text`` instead.
@@ -3657,7 +3671,7 @@ class AsyncMemory(MemoryBase):
 
         new_metadata = deepcopy(existing_memory.payload)
         if metadata is not None:
-            new_metadata.update(metadata)
+            new_metadata.update(_strip_identity_keys(metadata, existing_memory.payload))
 
         new_metadata["data"] = data
         new_metadata["hash"] = hashlib.md5(data.encode()).hexdigest()
@@ -3665,10 +3679,6 @@ class AsyncMemory(MemoryBase):
         new_metadata["created_at"] = existing_memory.payload.get("created_at")
         new_metadata["updated_at"] = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
 
-        # actor_id is immutable after creation (issue #4490)
-        if "actor_id" in existing_memory.payload:
-            new_metadata["actor_id"] = existing_memory.payload["actor_id"]
-
         if data in existing_embeddings:
             embeddings = existing_embeddings[data]
         else:

tests/memory/test_main.py

@@ -418,6 +418,58 @@ async def test_async_update_memory_uses_utc_timestamps(mocker):
     assert payload["updated_at"] is not None
 
 
+_ATTACKER_UPDATE_METADATA = {
+    "user_id": "attacker_tenant",
+    "agent_id": "attacker_agent",
+    "run_id": "attacker_run",
+    "actor_id": "attacker_actor",
+    "category": "sports",
+}
+
+# Omits agent_id on purpose, so one payload covers both overwriting and injecting an identity field.
+_EXISTING_UPDATE_PAYLOAD = {
+    "data": "old memory",
+    "user_id": "tenant_a",
+    "run_id": "run_a",
+    "actor_id": "actor_a",
+}
+
+
+def test_update_memory_metadata_cannot_change_identity_fields(mocker, caplog):
+    """Regression (issues #4490, #6277): update() metadata must not overwrite or inject identity fields."""
+    memory = _build_memory_instance(mocker, Memory)
+    memory.vector_store.get.return_value = MagicMock(payload=dict(_EXISTING_UPDATE_PAYLOAD))
+
+    with caplog.at_level(logging.WARNING, logger="mem0.memory.main"):
+        memory._update_memory("memory-id", "new memory", {}, metadata=dict(_ATTACKER_UPDATE_METADATA))
+
+    payload = memory.vector_store.update.call_args.kwargs["payload"]
+    assert payload["user_id"] == "tenant_a"
+    assert payload["run_id"] == "run_a"
+    assert "agent_id" not in payload
+    assert payload["actor_id"] == "actor_a"
+    assert payload["category"] == "sports"
+    assert payload["data"] == "new memory"
+    assert "ignoring metadata['user_id']" in caplog.text
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_async_update_memory_metadata_cannot_change_identity_fields(mocker):
+    """Async counterpart of test_update_memory_metadata_cannot_change_identity_fields."""
+    memory = _build_memory_instance(mocker, AsyncMemory)
+    memory.vector_store.get.return_value = MagicMock(payload=dict(_EXISTING_UPDATE_PAYLOAD))
+
+    await memory._update_memory("memory-id", "new memory", {}, metadata=dict(_ATTACKER_UPDATE_METADATA))
+
+    payload = memory.vector_store.update.call_args.kwargs["payload"]
+    assert payload["user_id"] == "tenant_a"
+    assert payload["run_id"] == "run_a"
+    assert "agent_id" not in payload
+    assert payload["actor_id"] == "actor_a"
+    assert payload["category"] == "sports"
+    assert payload["data"] == "new memory"
+
+
 def test_create_then_search_and_get_all_return_same_timestamps(mocker):
     """Reproduces issue #3720: created_at must be identical in search() and get_all()."""
     memory = _build_memory_instance(mocker, Memory)
@@ -714,52 +766,6 @@ class TestMetadataNotMutated:
         )
 
 
-def test_update_preserves_actor_id_when_different_actor_updates(mocker):
-    """actor_id must be preserved from the original memory even when the
-    updating caller passes a different actor_id in metadata (issue #4490)."""
-    memory = _build_memory_instance(mocker, Memory)
-    memory.vector_store.get.return_value = MagicMock(
-        payload={
-            "data": "I am player #1",
-            "user_id": "team",
-            "actor_id": "Alice",
-            "created_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
-        }
-    )
-
-    memory._update_memory(
-        "mem-id", "Player #1 is a good person",
-        {"Player #1 is a good person": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3]},
-        metadata={"user_id": "team", "actor_id": "Bob"},
-    )
-
-    stored = memory.vector_store.update.call_args.kwargs["payload"]
-    assert stored["actor_id"] == "Alice"
-
-
-@pytest.mark.asyncio
-async def test_async_update_preserves_actor_id_when_different_actor_updates(mocker):
-    """Async variant: actor_id must be preserved from the original memory (issue #4490)."""
-    memory = _build_memory_instance(mocker, AsyncMemory)
-    memory.vector_store.get.return_value = MagicMock(
-        payload={
-            "data": "I am player #1",
-            "user_id": "team",
-            "actor_id": "Alice",
-            "created_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
-        }
-    )
-
-    await memory._update_memory(
-        "mem-id", "Player #1 is a good person",
-        {"Player #1 is a good person": [0.1, 0.2, 0.3]},
-        metadata={"user_id": "team", "actor_id": "Bob"},
-    )
-
-    stored = memory.vector_store.update.call_args.kwargs["payload"]
-    assert stored["actor_id"] == "Alice"
-
-
 def _make_match(score, linked_memory_ids):
     return SimpleNamespace(score=score, payload={"linked_memory_ids": linked_memory_ids})