Parse Server has a protected fields bypass via LiveQuery subscription WHERE clauseGHSA-j7mm-f4rv-6q6q
GHSA-j7mm-f4rv-6q6q is a Information Exposure vulnerability in parse-server. A fix is available for parse-server — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-j7mm-f4rv-6q6q.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
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.
parse-servernpmDescription
Impact
An attacker can exploit LiveQuery subscriptions to infer the values of protected fields without directly receiving them. By subscribing with a WHERE clause that references a protected field (including via dot-notation or $regex), the attacker can observe whether LiveQuery events are delivered for matching objects. This creates a boolean oracle that leaks protected field values. The attack affects any class that has both protectedFields configured in Class-Level Permissions and LiveQuery enabled.
Patches
The fix adds validation of the LiveQuery subscription WHERE clause against the class's protected fields, mirroring the existing REST API validation. If a subscription's WHERE clause references a protected field directly, via dot-notation, or inside $or / $and / $nor operators, the subscription is rejected with a permission error. This is applied during subscription creation, so existing event delivery paths are not affected.
Workarounds
Disable LiveQuery for classes that use protectedFields in their Class-Level Permissions, or remove protectedFields from classes that require LiveQuery.
References
- GitHub security advisory: https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/security/advisories/GHSA-j7mm-f4rv-6q6q
- Fix Parse Server 9: https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/releases/tag/9.6.0-alpha.9
- Fix Parse Server 8: https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/releases/tag/8.6.35
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | parse-server | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.6.0-alpha.9 | 9.6.0-alpha.9npm install parse-server@9.6.0-alpha.9 |
| 📦npm | parse-server | all versions | 8.6.35npm install parse-server@8.6.35 |
Affected Products
parse-serverparseplatformDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for parse-server, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update parse-server to 9.6.0-alpha.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j7mm-f4rv-6q6q is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Assume what was exposed is already known: rotate any credential, token or key that the affected component could return, restrict the endpoint to callers that genuinely need it, and strip sensitive fields from responses and error output at the boundary rather than relying on the client not to read them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-j7mm-f4rv-6q6q in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.