CVE-2026-35441: Directus Denial of Service Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-ph52-67fq-75wj
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CVSS 6.5
CWE-400 CWE-770
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-35441 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Directus libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves graphql alias amplification denial of service due to missing query cost/complexity limits. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 11.17.0.

CVE-2026-35441 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-35441
GHSA Identifier GHSA-ph52-67fq-75wj
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Directus
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.5

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:N/I:N/A:H).

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 None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-35441

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-2026-35441, 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-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. 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' GraphQL endpoints (`/graphql` and `/graphql/system`) did not deduplicate resolver invocations within a single request. An authenticated user could exploit GraphQL aliasing to repeat an expensive relational query many times in a single request, forcing the server to execute a large number of independent complex database queries concurrently, multiplying database load linearly with the number of aliases. The existing token limit on GraphQL queries still permitted enough aliases for significant resource exhaustion, while the relational depth limit applied per alias without reducing the total number executed. Rate limiting is disabled by default, meaning no built-in throttle prevented this from causing CPU, memory, and I/O exhaustion that could degrade or crash the service. Any authenticated user, including those with minimal read-only permissions, could trigger this condition. ### Fix A request-scoped resolver deduplication mechanism was introduced and applied broadly across all GraphQL read resolvers, both system and items endpoints. When multiple aliases in a single request invoke the same resolver with identical arguments, only the first call executes; all subsequent aliases share its result. This eliminates the amplification factor regardless of how many aliases a query contains. ### Impact - **Service degradation or outage:** Concurrent complex database queries exhaust the connection pool and server resources, affecting all users - **Low privilege required:** Any authenticated user, including those with read-only access to a single collection, can trigger this condition - **Linear scaling:** Impact scales with the number of aliases and depth of relational queries - **Compounded by concurrency:** Multiple simultaneous requests multiply the effect further

CVE-2026-35441 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-ph52-67fq-75wj
NVD — CVE-2026-35441 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35441
Directus Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/directus/directus

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-35441?
CVE-2026-35441 is a security vulnerability in Directus involving GraphQL Alias Amplification Denial of Service Due to Missing Query Cost/Complexity Limits under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Directus versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 11.17.0 across affected packages: directus.
What version fixes CVE-2026-35441?
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-2026-35441?
CVE-2026-35441 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-35441?
CVE-2026-35441 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2026-35441?
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-ph52-67fq-75wj",
  "modified" : "2026-04-07T14:20:15Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-04T06:12:52Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-35441" ],
  "summary" : "Directus: GraphQL Alias Amplification Denial of Service Due to Missing Query Cost/Complexity Limits",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nDirectus' GraphQL endpoints (`/graphql` and `/graphql/system`) did not deduplicate resolver invocations within a single request. An authenticated user could exploit GraphQL aliasing to repeat an expensive relational query many times in a single request, forcing the server to execute a large number of independent complex database queries concurrently, multiplying database load linearly with the number of aliases. The existing token limit on GraphQL queries still permitted enough aliases for significant resource exhaustion, while the relational depth limit applied per alias without reducing the total number executed. Rate limiting is disabled by default, meaning no built-in throttle prevented this from causing CPU, memory, and I/O exhaustion that could degrade or crash the service. Any authenticated user, including those with minimal read-only permissions, could trigger this condition.\n\n### Fix\n\nA request-scoped resolver deduplication mechanism was introduced and applied broadly across all GraphQL read resolvers, both system and items endpoints. When multiple aliases in a single request invoke the same resolver with identical arguments, only the first call executes; all subsequent aliases share its result. This eliminates the amplification factor regardless of how many aliases a query contains.\n\n### Impact\n\n- **Service degradation or outage:** Concurrent complex database queries exhaust the connection pool and server resources, affecting all users\n- **Low privilege required:** Any authenticated user, including those with read-only access to a single collection, can trigger this condition\n- **Linear scaling:** Impact scales with the number of aliases and depth of relational queries\n- **Compounded by concurrency:** Multiple simultaneous requests multiply the effect further",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "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-ph52-67fq-75wj"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35441"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/directus/directus"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400", "CWE-770" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-04T06:12:52Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-04-06T22:16:22Z"
  }
}