Directus Vulnerable to User Enumeration via Password Reset Timing AttackGHSA-jr94-gj3h-c8rf
MEDIUMFix: directus/directus#26485GHSA-jr94-gj3h-c8rf is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-203 vulnerability in directus. A fix is available for directus — 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-jr94-gj3h-c8rf.
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.
directusnpm@directus/apinpmDescription
Summary
A timing-based user enumeration vulnerability exists in the password reset functionality. When an invalid reset_url parameter is provided, the response time differs by approximately 500ms between existing and non-existing users, enabling reliable user enumeration.
Details
The password reset endpoint implements a timing protection mechanism to prevent user enumeration; however, URL validation executes before the timing protection is applied. This allows an attacker to distinguish between valid and invalid user accounts based on response timing differences.
Impact
This vulnerability violates user privacy and may facilitate targeted phishing attacks by allowing attackers to confirm the existence of user accounts.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | directus | all versions | 11.14.1npm install directus@11.14.1 |
| 📦npm | @directus/api | all versions | 32.2.0npm install @directus/api@32.2.0 |
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 11.14.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jr94-gj3h-c8rf 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-jr94-gj3h-c8rf in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.