Executive brief
Directus is an open-source platform used to manage database content and provide real-time APIs. A security flaw in its login system could allow an attacker to hijack the login process when a user signs in using a third-party service like Google or Discord. This could lead to an attacker gaining access to the user's third-party account or taking over their account within the Directus platform.
Technical details
Directus versions prior to 11.17.0 are vulnerable to a cross-origin window manipulation attack because SSO login pages do not implement the Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy (COOP) HTTP response header. When a malicious site opens the Directus login page in a new window or tab, it retains a reference to the window object, allowing it to intercept and redirect the OAuth authorization flow. An attacker can use this to redirect the victim to an attacker-controlled OAuth client, capturing authentication tokens for providers like Google or Discord. This can result in unauthorized access to the identity provider account or full account takeover of the Directus instance. The issue is resolved in version 11.17.0 by the addition of the 'Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin' header.
Affected products
- Directus Directus < 11.17.0
Timeline
- 2026-04-02: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
- 2026-04-06: disclosed: CVE published to NVD
- 2026-04-06: patched: Fix released in version 11.17.0