From c7111b7570895cd999b8ca6abde9f8d558b99200 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tim Eisele <Ghost_of_Stone@web.de>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2026 19:43:25 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Only resolve symlinks on playback (#16965)

Only resolve symlinks on playback
---
 .../Library/MediaSourceManager.cs             | 25 +++++++++++++++++++
 Jellyfin.Api/Controllers/LibraryController.cs | 13 +++++++++-
 MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs  |  9 -------
 3 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/MediaSourceManager.cs b/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/MediaSourceManager.cs
index 0caf66555a..9ccfefa86e 100644
--- a/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/MediaSourceManager.cs
+++ b/Emby.Server.Implementations/Library/MediaSourceManager.cs
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ using MediaBrowser.Common.Extensions;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.TV;
+using MediaBrowser.Controller.IO;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Library;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.LiveTv;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.MediaEncoding;
@@ -176,6 +177,7 @@ namespace Emby.Server.Implementations.Library
         public async Task<IReadOnlyList<MediaSourceInfo>> GetPlaybackMediaSources(BaseItem item, User user, bool allowMediaProbe, bool enablePathSubstitution, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
         {
             var mediaSources = GetStaticMediaSources(item, enablePathSubstitution, user);
+            ResolveSymlinkPaths(mediaSources, enablePathSubstitution);
 
             // If file is strm or main media stream is missing, force a metadata refresh with remote probing
             if (allowMediaProbe && mediaSources[0].Type != MediaSourceType.Placeholder
@@ -192,6 +194,7 @@ namespace Emby.Server.Implementations.Library
                     cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
 
                 mediaSources = GetStaticMediaSources(item, enablePathSubstitution, user);
+                ResolveSymlinkPaths(mediaSources, enablePathSubstitution);
             }
 
             var dynamicMediaSources = await GetDynamicMediaSources(item, cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
@@ -324,6 +327,28 @@ namespace Emby.Server.Implementations.Library
             }
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Resolves symlinked file paths on the supplied sources to the real on-disk target.
+        /// Skipped when <paramref name="enablePathSubstitution"/> is set because the path may
+        /// already have been rewritten to a UNC/URL meant for the client to consume directly.
+        /// </summary>
+        private static void ResolveSymlinkPaths(IReadOnlyList<MediaSourceInfo> sources, bool enablePathSubstitution)
+        {
+            if (enablePathSubstitution)
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            foreach (var source in sources)
+            {
+                if (source.Protocol == MediaProtocol.File
+                    && FileSystemHelper.ResolveLinkTarget(source.Path, returnFinalTarget: true) is { Exists: true } target)
+                {
+                    source.Path = target.FullName;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
         private static void SetKeyProperties(IMediaSourceProvider provider, MediaSourceInfo mediaSource)
         {
             var prefix = provider.GetType().FullName.GetMD5().ToString("N", CultureInfo.InvariantCulture) + LiveStreamIdDelimiter;
diff --git a/Jellyfin.Api/Controllers/LibraryController.cs b/Jellyfin.Api/Controllers/LibraryController.cs
index 6a30a80f1d..39a6fbace8 100644
--- a/Jellyfin.Api/Controllers/LibraryController.cs
+++ b/Jellyfin.Api/Controllers/LibraryController.cs
@@ -119,7 +119,18 @@ public class LibraryController : BaseJellyfinApiController
             return NotFound();
         }
 
-        return PhysicalFile(item.Path, MimeTypes.GetMimeType(item.Path), true);
+        var filePath = item.Path;
+        if (item.IsFileProtocol)
+        {
+            // PhysicalFile does not work well with symlinks at the moment.
+            var resolved = FileSystemHelper.ResolveLinkTarget(filePath, returnFinalTarget: true);
+            if (resolved is not null && resolved.Exists)
+            {
+                filePath = resolved.FullName;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return PhysicalFile(filePath, MimeTypes.GetMimeType(filePath), true);
     }
 
     /// <summary>
diff --git a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs
index e24b60f69f..d4e56772aa 100644
--- a/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs
+++ b/MediaBrowser.Controller/Entities/BaseItem.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ using MediaBrowser.Controller.Chapters;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Configuration;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Dto;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities.TV;
-using MediaBrowser.Controller.IO;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Library;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.MediaSegments;
 using MediaBrowser.Controller.Persistence;
@@ -1134,15 +1133,7 @@ namespace MediaBrowser.Controller.Entities
             ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(item);
 
             var protocol = item.PathProtocol;
-
-            // Resolve the item path so everywhere we use the media source it will always point to
-            // the correct path even if symlinks are in use. Calling ResolveLinkTarget on a non-link
-            // path will return null, so it's safe to check for all paths.
             var itemPath = item.Path;
-            if (protocol is MediaProtocol.File && FileSystemHelper.ResolveLinkTarget(itemPath, returnFinalTarget: true) is { Exists: true } linkInfo)
-            {
-                itemPath = linkInfo.FullName;
-            }
 
             var info = new MediaSourceInfo
             {