CVE-2026-35408: Directus Missing Cross-Origin Opener Policy Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-8m32-p958-jg99
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CVSS 8.7
CWE-693 CWE-346
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-35408 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.7) missing cross-origin opener policy vulnerability (CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure) affecting Directus libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves missing cross-origin opener policy. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 11.17.0.

CVE-2026-35408 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-35408
GHSA Identifier GHSA-8m32-p958-jg99
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.7
CWE Classification CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure
Affected Product Directus
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.7

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2026-35408

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-2026-35408, 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-693: Protection Mechanism Failure, where the product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product. 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 Directus's Single Sign-On (SSO) login pages lacked a `Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy` (COOP) HTTP response header. Without this header, a malicious cross-origin window that opens the Directus login page retains the ability to access and manipulate the `window` object of that page. An attacker can exploit this to intercept and redirect the OAuth authorization flow to an attacker-controlled OAuth client, causing the victim to unknowingly grant access to their authentication provider account (e.g. Google, Discord). ## Impact A successful attack allows the attacker to obtain an OAuth access token for the victim's third-party identity provider account. Depending on the scopes authorized, this can lead to: - Unauthorized access to the victim's linked identity provider account - Account takeover of the Directus instance if the attacker can authenticate using the stolen credentials or provider session ## Patches This issue has been addressed by adding the `Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin` HTTP response header to SSO-related endpoints. This header instructs the browser to place the page in its own browsing context group, severing any reference the opener window may hold. ## Workarounds Users who are unable to upgrade immediately can mitigate this vulnerability by configuring their reverse proxy or web server to add the following HTTP response header to all Directus responses: `Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin`

CVE-2026-35408 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-8m32-p958-jg99
NVD — CVE-2026-35408 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35408
Directus Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/directus/directus

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-35408?
CVE-2026-35408 is a security vulnerability in Directus involving Missing Cross-Origin Opener Policy under CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure.
Which Directus versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 11.17.0 across affected packages: directus.
What version fixes CVE-2026-35408?
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-2026-35408?
CVE-2026-35408 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.7 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-35408?
CVE-2026-35408 is classified under CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure (The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2026-35408?
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-8m32-p958-jg99",
  "modified" : "2026-04-07T14:19:49Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-04T06:06:00Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-35408" ],
  "summary" : "Directus: Missing Cross-Origin Opener Policy",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nDirectus's Single Sign-On (SSO) login pages lacked a `Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy` (COOP) HTTP response header. Without this header, a malicious cross-origin window that opens the Directus login page retains the ability to access and manipulate the `window` object of that page. An attacker can exploit this to intercept and redirect the OAuth authorization flow to an attacker-controlled OAuth client, causing the victim to unknowingly grant access to their authentication provider account (e.g. Google, Discord).\n\n## Impact\n\nA successful attack allows the attacker to obtain an OAuth access token for the victim's third-party identity provider account. Depending on the scopes authorized, this can lead to:\n- Unauthorized access to the victim's linked identity provider account\n- Account takeover of the Directus instance if the attacker can authenticate using the stolen credentials or provider session\n\n## Patches\n\nThis issue has been addressed by adding the `Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin` HTTP response header to SSO-related endpoints. This header instructs the browser to place the page in its own browsing context group, severing any reference the opener window may hold.\n\n## Workarounds\n\nUsers who are unable to upgrade immediately can mitigate this vulnerability by configuring their reverse proxy or web server to add the following HTTP response header to all Directus responses: `Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin`",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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-8m32-p958-jg99"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35408"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-346", "CWE-693" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-04T06:06:00Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-04-06T22:16:21Z"
  }
}