GHSA-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm — directus
MEDIUMGHSA-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.3) CWE-284 vulnerability in directus. A fix is available for directus — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Directus incorrectly handles `_in` filter
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-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm.
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-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm 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 377,166 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 >=9.23.0, <=v10.5.3 improperly handles _in, _nin operators. It evaluates empty arrays as valid so expressions like {"role": {"_in": $CURRENT_USER.some_field}} would evaluate to true allowing the request to pass.
Details
This results in Broken Access Control because the rule fails to do what it was intended to do: Pass rule if field matches any of the values. ref: https://docs.directus.io/reference/filter-rules.html#filter-operators In my example this would translate to "Pass rule if <collection>.role matches any of []". Which should fail. This instead passes in Directus <= v10.5.3, >=v9.23.0
PoC
{"role": {"_in": $CURRENT_USER.some_field}} field validation would pass if $CURRENT_USER.some_field is null.
Real scenario: Using https://github.com/u12206050/directus-extension-role-chooser with the specified versions of Directus (I tested on 10.0.0) allows users with access to this feature set their role to whatever role if they don't have any roles assigned (user_roles.role is left with the default value, null) despite the validation rule being
validation:
role:
_in: $CURRENT_USER.user_roles.role
Latest version of Directus (v10.8.3 and above) handles the above validation rule correctly.
Impact
Permissions fail to open for setups relying on this filter and can lead to users getting access to things they're not supposed to.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | directus | ≥ 9.23.0&&< 10.6.0 | 10.6.0npm install directus@10.6.0 |
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 10.6.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm 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-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm. 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-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-hxgm-ghmv-xjjm across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.