CVE-2025-53889 Directus missing permission checks for manual trigger Flows
Attackers can execute manual trigger Flows without authentication or proper permissions, potentially accessing data or performing actions on their behalf.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-53889?
CVE-2025-53889 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Monospace Directus, published on 14 Jul 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Directus is a real-time API and App dashboard for managing SQL database content. Starting in version 9.12.0 and prior to version 11.9.0, Directus Flows with a manual trigger are not validating whether the user triggering the Flow has permissions to the items provided as payload to the Flow. Depending on what the Flow is set up to do this can lead to the Flow executing potential tasks on the attacker's behalf without authenticating. Bad actors could execute the manual trigger Flows without authentication, or access rights to the said collection(s) or item(s). Users with manual trigger Flows configured are impacted as these endpoints do not currently validate if the user has read access to `directus_flows` or to the relevant collection/items. The manual trigger Flows should have tighter security requirements as compared to webhook Flows where users are expected to perform do their own checks. Version 11.9.0 fixes the issue. As a workaround, implement permission checks for read access to Flows and read access to relevant collection/items.
Weakness: CWE-287
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-53889?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including directus. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
directus npm | All versions | 11.9.0 |
directus npm | All versions | 11.9.0 |
Products include Monospace Directus.
How do I fix CVE-2025-53889?
Upgrade directus to 11.9.0 or later.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2025-53889 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-53889 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Monospace Directus
- CVE-2022-26969 Insecure default value for CORS configuration
- CVE-2025-55746 Directus allows unauthenticated file upload and file modification due to lacking input sanitization
- CVE-2026-35408 Directus is Missing Cross-Origin Opener Policy
- CVE-2026-61836 Directus: Authorization-dependent response served from unsegmented cache key
- CVE-2025-30353 Directus's webhook trigger flows can leak sensitive data
Sources
Also known as GHSA-7cvf-pxgp-42fc.