CVE-2026-35442: Directus Authenticated Users Can Extract Concealed Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-38hg-ww64-rrwc
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CVSS 8.1
CWE-200 CWE-863
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-35442 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.1) authenticated users can extract concealed vulnerability (CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting Directus libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves authenticated users can extract concealed fields via aggregate queries. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 11.17.0.

CVE-2026-35442 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-35442
GHSA Identifier GHSA-38hg-ww64-rrwc
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.1
CWE Classification CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
Affected Product Directus
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-35442

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Directus dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

directus fixed: 11.17.0 
npm install directus@11.17.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

npm ls directus

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2026-35442, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls directus

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Directus in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 11.17.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls directus command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, where the product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. In Directus, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Summary Aggregate functions (`min`, `max`) applied to fields with the `conceal` special type incorrectly return raw database values instead of the masked placeholder. When combined with `groupBy`, any authenticated user with read access to the affected collection can extract concealed field values, including static API tokens and two-factor authentication secrets from `directus_users`. ### Details Fields marked with `conceal` are protected by payload processing logic that replaces real values with a masked placeholder on read. This protection works correctly for standard item queries, but aggregate query results are structured differently, operations are nested under their function name rather than appearing as flat field keys. The masking logic does not account for this nested structure, causing it to silently skip concealed fields in aggregate responses and return their raw values to the client. ### Impact - **Account Takeover** An authenticated attacker can harvest static API tokens for all users, including administrators, enabling immediate authentication as any account without credentials. - **2FA Bypass** TOTP seeds stored in directus_users can similarly be extracted, allowing an attacker to bypass two-factor authentication for any account.

CVE-2026-35442 Affected Directus Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
11.17.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
directus
npm/directus
npm
< 11.17.0
11.17.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/directus/directus/security/advisories/GHSA-38hg-ww64-rrwc
NVD — CVE-2026-35442 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35442
Directus Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/directus/directus

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-35442?
CVE-2026-35442 is a security vulnerability in Directus involving Authenticated Users Can Extract Concealed Fields via Aggregate Queries under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.
Which Directus versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 11.17.0 across affected packages: directus.
What version fixes CVE-2026-35442?
Upgrading to 11.17.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is directus affected?
Yes, directus is affected in releases prior to 11.17.0. Upgrade your dependency to 11.17.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-35442?
CVE-2026-35442 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-35442?
CVE-2026-35442 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2026-35442?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls directus'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-38hg-ww64-rrwc",
  "modified" : "2026-04-07T14:20:19Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-04T06:13:57Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-35442" ],
  "summary" : "Directus: Authenticated Users Can Extract Concealed Fields via Aggregate Queries",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nAggregate functions (`min`, `max`) applied to fields with the `conceal` special type incorrectly return raw database values instead of the masked placeholder. When combined with `groupBy`, any authenticated user with read access to the affected collection can extract concealed field values, including static API tokens and two-factor authentication secrets from `directus_users`.\n\n### Details\n\nFields marked with `conceal` are protected by payload processing logic that replaces real values with a masked placeholder on read. This protection works correctly for standard item queries, but aggregate query results are structured differently, operations are nested under their function name rather than appearing as flat field keys. The masking logic does not account for this nested structure, causing it to silently skip concealed fields in aggregate responses and return their raw values to the client.\n\n### Impact\n\n- **Account Takeover** An authenticated attacker can harvest static API tokens for all users, including administrators, enabling immediate authentication as any account without credentials.\n\n- **2FA Bypass** TOTP seeds stored in directus_users can similarly be extracted, allowing an attacker to bypass two-factor authentication for any account.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "directus"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "11.17.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus/security/advisories/GHSA-38hg-ww64-rrwc"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35442"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-200", "CWE-863" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-04T06:13:57Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-04-06T22:16:22Z"
  }
}