CVE-2025-24353: Directus Directus Allows Privilege Escalation Using Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-pmf4-v838-29hg
Share
CVSS 5.0
CWE-269
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-24353 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.0) directus allows privilege escalation using vulnerability (CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management) affecting Directus libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves directus allows privilege escalation using share feature. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 11.2.0, 13.3.1.

CVE-2025-24353 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-24353
GHSA Identifier GHSA-pmf4-v838-29hg
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.0
CWE Classification CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Affected Product Directus
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.0

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:C/C:L/I:N/A:N).

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

How to Fix CVE-2025-24353

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: 11.2.0 
npm install directus@11.2.0
@directus/app fixed: 13.3.1 
npm install @directus/app@13.3.1
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-2025-24353, 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 11.2.0), 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-269: Improper Privilege Management, where the product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. 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 When sharing an item, user can specify an arbitrary role. It allows user to use a higher-privileged role to see fields that otherwise the user should not be able to see. ### Details Specifying `role` on share should be available only for admins. The current flow has a security flaw. Each other role should allow to share only in the context of the same role. As there is no role hierarchy in Directus, it is impossible to tell which role is _higher_ or _lower_, so only admins should be able to specify the role for share. Optionally, instead of specifying a role, shareer* should be able to specify which fields (limited to fields shareer sees) are available on shared item. Similarily to import. *_shareer_ - a person that creates a share link to item ### PoC 1. Create a collection with a secret field. 2. Create role A that sees the secret field 3. Create role B that does not see the secret field, but can use share feature. 4. Create item with secret field filled. 5. Use account with role B to share the object as role A and gain unauthorized access to secret value. Here's video example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbV4IxbWzN4 I had to upload it to YouTube, because GitHub allows only 10MB videos. ### Impact Impacted are instances that use the share feature and have specific roles hierarchy and fields that are not visible for certain roles.

CVE-2025-24353 Affected Directus Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
11.2.013.3.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
directus
npm/directus
npm
< 11.2.0
11.2.0
@directus/app
npm/@directus/app
npm
< 13.3.1
13.3.1

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/directus/directus/security/advisories/GHSA-pmf4-v838-29hg
NVD — CVE-2025-24353 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-24353
Directus Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/directus/directus/pull/23716
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/directus/directus/commit/e288a43a79613dada905da683f4919c6965ac804
Directus Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/directus/directus
Directus Release RELEASE
https://github.com/directus/directus/releases/tag/v11.2.0
www.youtube.com/watch WEB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbV4IxbWzN4

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-24353?
CVE-2025-24353 is a security vulnerability in Directus involving Directus allows privilege escalation using Share feature under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management.
Which Directus versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 11.2.0, 13.3.1 across affected packages: directus, @directus/app.
What version fixes CVE-2025-24353?
Upgrading to 11.2.0, 13.3.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is directus affected?
Yes, directus is affected in releases prior to 11.2.0. Upgrade your dependency to 11.2.0 or later.
Is @directus/app affected?
Yes, @directus/app is affected in releases prior to 13.3.1. Upgrade your dependency to 13.3.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-24353?
CVE-2025-24353 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.0 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-24353?
CVE-2025-24353 is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management (The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2025-24353?
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-pmf4-v838-29hg",
  "modified" : "2025-02-11T22:09:20Z",
  "published" : "2025-01-23T22:35:52Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-24353" ],
  "summary" : "Directus allows privilege escalation using Share feature",
  "details" : "### Summary\nWhen sharing an item, user can specify an arbitrary role. It allows user to use a higher-privileged role to see fields that otherwise the user should not be able to see.\n\n### Details\nSpecifying `role` on share should be available only for admins. The current flow has a security flaw.\n\nEach other role should allow to share only in the context of the same role. As there is no role hierarchy in Directus, it is impossible to tell which role is _higher_ or _lower_, so only admins should be able to specify the role for share.\n\nOptionally, instead of specifying a role, shareer* should be able to specify which fields (limited to fields shareer sees) are available on shared item. Similarily to import.\n\n*_shareer_ - a person that creates a share link to item\n\n### PoC\n1. Create a collection with a secret field. \n2. Create role A that sees the secret field\n3. Create role B that does not see the secret field, but can use share feature.\n4. Create item with secret field filled. \n5. Use account with role B to share the object as role A and gain unauthorized access to secret value.\n\nHere's video example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbV4IxbWzN4\nI had to upload it to YouTube, because GitHub allows only 10MB videos.\n\n### Impact\nImpacted are instances that use the share feature and have specific roles hierarchy and fields that are not visible for certain roles.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "directus"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "11.2.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "@directus/app"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "13.3.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus/security/advisories/GHSA-pmf4-v838-29hg"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-24353"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus/pull/23716"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus/commit/e288a43a79613dada905da683f4919c6965ac804"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus/releases/tag/v11.2.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbV4IxbWzN4"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-269" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-01-23T22:35:52Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-01-23T18:15:33Z"
  }
}