Directus allows unauthenticated access to WebSocket events and operations
Summary
When setting WEBSOCKETS_GRAPHQL_AUTH or WEBSOCKETS_REST_AUTH to "public", an unauthenticated user is able to do any of the supported operations (CRUD, subscriptions) with full admin privileges.
Details
Accountability for unauthenticated WebSocket requests is set to null, which used to be "public permissions" until the Permissions Policy update which now defaults that to system/admin level access. So instead of null we need to make use of createDefaultAccountability() to ensure public permissions are used for unauthenticated users.
PoC
- Start directus with
WEBSOCKETS_ENABLED=true
WEBSOCKETS_GRAPHQL_AUTH=public
WEBSOCKETS_REST_AUTH=public- Subscribe using GQL or REST or do any CRUD operation on a user created collection (system tables are not reachable with crud)
subscription {
directus_users_mutated {
key
event
data {
id
email
first_name
last_name
password
}
}
}or
{
"type": "items",
"action": "read",
"collection": "your_collection_name"
}3a. Open up the data studio as any user. Observe how the subscriber gets notified on each page navigation (because the users last_page gets updated, the password fields is properly redacted here)
3b. Observe receiving all available items from the your_collection_name collection.
Impact
This impacts any Directus instance that has either WEBSOCKETS_GRAPHQL_AUTH or WEBSOCKETS_REST_AUTH set to public allowing unauthenticated users to subscribe for changes on any collection or do REST CRUD operations on user defined collections ignoring permissions.
Affected software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm package | directus | >= 11.0.0, < 11.3.0 | 11.3.0 |
| npm package | @directus/api | >= 22.2.0, < 23.2.0 | 23.2.0 |
References
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-200- Platform
- npm
- Package
directus, @directus/api- Disclosed
- 09.12.2024
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 10:22
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-849r-qrwj-8rv4 - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: directus
All published vulnerabilities of this package (npm package), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 58
- First → latest
- 04.2022 07.2026
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 2
- High 19
- Medium 34
- Low 3
Disclosures per year
- 2022: 4
- 2023: 8
- 2024: 14
- 2025: 17
- 2026: 15
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