GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2 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 GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2.
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
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 This stale reference creates a security gap: if another field is later created using the same name, it inherits the outdated permission entry.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 |
Detection & 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 GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-9x5g-62gj-wqf2 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.