CVE-2025-53889
MEDIUMDirectus missing permission checks for manual trigger Flows
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
directusnpmDescription
Directus is a real-time API and App dashboard for managing SQL database content. Starting in version 9.12.0 and prior to version 11.9.0, Directus Flows with a manual trigger are not validating whether the user triggering the Flow has permissions to the items provided as payload to the Flow. Depending on what the Flow is set up to do this can lead to the Flow executing potential tasks on the attacker's behalf without authenticating. Bad actors could execute the manual trigger Flows without authentication, or access rights to the said collection(s) or item(s). Users with manual trigger Flows configured are impacted as these endpoints do not currently validate if the user has read access to directus_flows or to the relevant collection/items. The manual trigger Flows should have tighter security requirements as compared to webhook Flows where users are expected to perform do their own checks. Version 11.9.0 fixes the issue. As a workaround, implement permission checks for read access to Flows and read access to relevant collection/items.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | directus | all versions | 11.9.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for directus. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update directus to 11.9.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-53889 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2025-53889 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2025-53889. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-53889 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2025-53889 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.