CVE-2025-64746 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.6) CWE-284 vulnerability in directus. A fix is available for directus — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Directus has Improper Permission Handling on Deleted Fields
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-64746.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
directusnpmDescription
Summary
Directus does not properly clean up field-level permissions when a field is deleted. If a new field with the same name is created later, the system automatically re-applies the old permissions, which can lead to unauthorized access.
Details
When a field is removed from a collection, its reference in the permissions table remains intact. This stale reference creates a security gap: if another field is later created using the same name, it inherits the outdated permission entry.
This behavior can unintentionally grant roles access to data they should not be able to read or modify.
The issue is particularly risky in multi-tenant or production environments, where administrators may reuse field names, assuming old permissions have been fully cleared.
1. Create a collection named test_collection.
2. Add a field called secret_field.
3. Assign a role with read permissions specifically tied to secret_field.
4. Remove the secret_field from the collection.
5. Create a new field with the exact same name secret_field.
6. Notice that the previously assigned permissions are still active, granting access to the newly created field without reconfiguration.
Impact
When creating new fields with the same name as previously deleted fields it may inherit the permissions of that previously deleted field. This can potentially result in accidentally giving access to this new field in existing policies.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | directus | all versions | 11.13.0npm install directus@11.13.0 |
Affected Products
directusmonospaceDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for directus, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update directus to 11.13.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-64746 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-64746 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.