GHSA-fph2-r4qg-9576 BIT-parse-2026-33421 CVE-2026-33421
Parse Server's LiveQuery bypasses CLP pointer permission enforcement
- Severity
- 0.0 / 10
- Medium · CVSS 4.0
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.41%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 35.49% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization
- Fix
9.6.0-alpha.42- Upgrade parse-server to this version or later
Description
Impact
Parse Server's LiveQuery WebSocket interface does not enforce Class-Level Permission (CLP) pointer permissions (readUserFields and pointerFields). Any authenticated user can subscribe to LiveQuery events and receive real-time updates for all objects in classes protected by pointer permissions, regardless of whether the pointer fields on those objects point to the subscribing user. This bypasses the intended read access control, allowing unauthorized access to potentially sensitive data that is correctly restricted via the REST API.
Patches
The LiveQuery server now enforces pointer permissions on each event. After the existing check passes (which defers pointer permissions by design), the fix checks whether any configured pointer field on the object points to the subscribing user. Events for objects that don't match are silently skipped, consistent with how ACL mismatches are handled.
Workarounds
Use ACLs on individual objects to restrict read access instead of relying solely on CLP pointer permissions. ACLs are enforced by LiveQuery.
Affected versions
npm
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| parse-server | >= 9.0.0, < 9.6.0-alpha.42 |
9.6.0-alpha.42 |
| parse-server | < 8.6.53 |
8.6.53 |
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
parse-server npm → 9.6.0-alpha.42
- npm
npm install parse-server@9.6.0-alpha.42- yarn
yarn add parse-server@9.6.0-alpha.42- pnpm
pnpm add parse-server@9.6.0-alpha.42
Severity breakdown
CVSS 4.0 0.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- High
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- None
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- None
- Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
- None
- Integrity (subsequent systems)
- None
- Availability (subsequent systems)
- None
CVSS 3.1 6.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Weakness
CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization
The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.
How to prevent it
- Architecture and Design: Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [REF-229] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries. Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
- Architecture and Design: Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records. For example, a database may restrict access for medical records to a specific database user, but each record might only be intended to be accessible to the patient and the patient's doctor [REF-7].
- Architecture and Design: Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [REF-233] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [REF-45].
- Architecture and Design: For web applications, make sure that the access control mechanism is enforced correctly at the server side on every page. Users should not be able to access any unauthorized functionality or information by simply requesting direct access to that page. One way to do this is to ensure that all pages containing sensitive information are not cached, and that all such pages restrict access to requests that are accompanied by an active and authenticated session token associated with a user who has the required permissions to access that page.
- System Configuration, Installation: Use the access control capabilities of your operating system and server environment and define your access control lists accordingly. Use a "default deny" policy when defining these ACLs.
References
Advisories
Packages
Other links
- github.com/parse-community/parse-server/security/advisories/GHSA-fph2-r4qg-9576
- github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/10250
- github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/10252
- github.com/parse-community/parse-server/commit/6c3317aca6eb618ac48f999021ae3ef7…
- github.com/parse-community/parse-server/commit/976dad109f3fe3fbd0a3a35ef62e7a5d…
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| GHSA-r899-h629-j84r Parse Server vulnerable to stored XSS via malformed Content-Type bypassing file upload extension blocklist | Low | Also affects parse-server |
| GHSA-97pr-9hgg-3p8r parse-server: LiveQuery discloses object data to a subscriber across an ACL read-access change | Low | Also affects parse-server |
| GHSA-v8x7-r927-cc93 parse-server: Stored XSS via non-standard file extension bypassing file upload extension blocklist | Low | Also affects parse-server |
| GHSA-cgxm-vr2f-6fj8 parse-server: Denial of service via exponential-time processing of deeply nested query operators | High | Also affects parse-server |
| GHSA-wmwx-jr2p-4j4r parse-server: Relation `$relatedTo` query bypasses `protectedFields` and owning-object ACL | Medium | Also affects parse-server |
| GHSA-75v4-m273-5j49 parse-server: Endpoints `/login` and `/verifyPassword` disclose MFA secrets and protected fields when `_User` get is denied | Medium | Also affects parse-server |
| GHSA-7wqv-xjf3-x35v parse-server: Stored XSS via trailing-dot filename bypassing file upload extension blocklist | Low | Also affects parse-server |
| GHSA-p84r-h6rx-f2xr parse-server: Server option routeAllowList is bypassable through batch sub-requests | Medium | Also affects parse-server |
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