How severe is GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf?

GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf has a CVSS score of 6.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf?

GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf affects the following packages: directus (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf?

Update directus to 9.16.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf in my npm dependencies?

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.

How do I mitigate GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf?

GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.6%, placing it in the 49th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf?

GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf is classified as Information Exposure (CWE-200). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf was published on March 8, 2023 and was last updated on September 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

Directus vulnerable to extraction of password hashes through export queryingGHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf

MEDIUMFix: directus/directus#14829

GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Information Exposure vulnerability in directus. A fix is available for directus — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2023-27481

Published

Mar 8, 2023

Updated

Sep 10, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 3, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

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-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs49th percentile — riskier than 49% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

1 pkg affected

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.

12other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

directusnpm

31Kdownloads / week

Description

Impact

Users with read access to the password field in directus_users can extract the argon2 password hashes by brute forcing the export functionality combined with a _starts_with filter. This allows the user to enumerate the password hashes.

Patches

The problem has been patched by preventing any hashed/concealed field to be filtered against with the _starts_with or other string operator.

Workarounds

Ensuring that no user has read access to the password field in directus_users is sufficient to prevent this vulnerability.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open a Discussion in directus/directus
Email us at [email protected]

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`directus`	all versions	9.16.0`npm install directus@9.16.0`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

directusmonospace

< 9.16.0

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
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 9.16.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-m5q3-8wgf-x8xf 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

### Impact Users with read access to the `password` field in `directus_users` can extract the argon2 password hashes by brute forcing the export functionality combined with a `_starts_with` filter. This allows the user to enumerate the password hashes. ### Patches The problem has been patched by preventing any hashed/concealed field to be filtered against with the `_starts_with` or other string operator. ### Workarounds Ensuring that no user has `read` access to the `password` field in `directus_users` is sufficient to prevent this vulnerability. ### For more information If you have an