GHSA-qqmv-5p3g-px89 CVE-2026-35412
Directus: TUS Upload Authorization Bypass Allows Arbitrary File Overwrite
- Severity
- 7.1 / 10
- High · CVSS 3.1
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.30%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 23.02% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization
- Fix
11.16.1- Upgrade directus to this version or later
Description
Summary
Directus' TUS resumable upload endpoint (/files/tus) allows any authenticated user with basic file upload permissions to overwrite arbitrary existing files by UUID. The TUS controller performs only collection-level authorization checks, verifying the user has some permission on directus_files, but never validates item-level access to the specific file being replaced. As a result, row-level permission rules (e.g., "users can only update their own files") are completely bypassed via the TUS path while being correctly enforced on the standard REST upload path.
Impact
- Arbitrary file overwrite: Any authenticated user with basic TUS upload permissions can overwrite any file in
directus_filesby UUID, regardless of row-level permission rules. - Permanent data loss: The victim file's original stored bytes are deleted from storage and replaced with attacker-controlled content.
- Metadata corruption: The victim file's database record is updated with the attacker's filename, type, and size metadata.
Privilege escalation potential: If admin-owned files (e.g., application assets, templates) are stored in
directus_files, a low-privilege user could replace them with malicious content.
Workaround
Disable TUS uploads by setting TUS_ENABLED=false if resumable uploads are not required.
Credit
This vulnerability was discovered and reported by bugbunny.ai.
Affected versions
npm
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| directus | < 11.16.1 |
11.16.1 |
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.
directus npm → 11.16.1
- npm
npm install directus@11.16.1- yarn
yarn add directus@11.16.1- pnpm
pnpm add directus@11.16.1
Severity breakdown
CVSS 3.1 7.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
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
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| GHSA-c6w9-5g5j-jh2p Directus: Authorization-dependent response served from unsegmented cache key | High | Also affects directus |
| GHSA-j5h6-vqc3-phqh Directus: SSRF Protection Bypass via 0.0.0.0 in File Import | High | Also affects directus |
| GHSA-38hg-ww64-rrwc Directus: Authenticated Users Can Extract Concealed Fields via Aggregate Queries | High | Also affects directus |
| GHSA-6q22-g298-grjh Directus: Unauthenticated Denial of Service via GraphQL Alias Amplification of Expensive Health Check Resolver | High | Also affects directus |
| GHSA-ph52-67fq-75wj Directus: GraphQL Alias Amplification Denial of Service Due to Missing Query Cost/Complexity Limits | Medium | Also affects directus |
| GHSA-mvv8-v4jj-g47j Directus: Sensitive fields exposed in revision history | Medium | Also affects directus |
| GHSA-wv3h-5fx7-966h Directus: SSRF Protection Bypass via IPv4-Mapped IPv6 Addresses in File Import | High | Also affects directus |
| GHSA-wxwm-3fxv-mrvx Directus: GraphQL Schema SDL Disclosure Setting | Medium | Also affects directus |
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