How to Reclaim Your Plex Server After the Recent Security Incident

I recently received an email from Plex about a security incident where an unauthorized third party accessed a limited subset of customer data from one of their databases. This data included email addresses, usernames, and securely hashed passwords. Plex recommended that users immediately visit their password reset page and reset their passwords.

I followed the instructions, which included enabling the checkbox “Sign out connected devices after password change.” I didn’t think much of it until I logged into my Plex server and tried to access my media, only to be greeted with the message: “You do not have permission to access this server.”

The Problem Gets Worse

I went into my settings but couldn’t find anything there to resolve the issue. After searching online, I found Plex’s official support article titled Why am I locked out of Server Settings and how do I get in?. I followed their instructions, but nothing worked for me—I still couldn’t access my media.

My setup runs PlexServer as a Docker instance on a mini-computer while the media is stored on my Synology NAS drive. I tried shutting down the instance and restarting it, but encountered the same problem.

You’re Not Alone

It turns out I wasn’t the only person experiencing this issue. I discovered a helpful discussion on this Reddit thread from the Plex community where many users were having extreme difficulty reclaiming their servers after the password reset.

The Solution That Actually Works

What eventually solved the problem for me was using Plex’s API approach:

1. Claim a new code from Plex by visiting their Plex Media Server code page
2. Use the claim code with this curl command:

   curl -X POST "http://localhost:32400/myplex/claim?token=[your-claim-code]"
   

3. Refresh your Plex server in your browser—you should now be able to access your media
4. Log into Plex on your other devices using the new password

Final Thoughts

I wish Plex had done a better job communicating this solution to their users during the security incident response. The standard troubleshooting steps in their official documentation simply didn’t work for many users in this specific scenario.

I’m sharing this experience in case other Plex media server owners encounter the same issues. While security incidents are unfortunate, having a clear recovery path shouldn’t be this complicated for users who are simply following the company’s own security recommendations.