Executive brief
Directus, a platform for managing database content and APIs, contains a security flaw in its file import feature. An attacker can bypass security filters to force the server to make requests to internal systems, such as private databases or cloud metadata services. This could lead to the exposure of sensitive internal data or administrative credentials.
Technical details
A Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability exists in Directus due to improper normalization of IP addresses in the file import component. The application implements an IP deny-list to prevent requests to internal/private network ranges, but the validation logic fails to account for IPv4-Mapped IPv6 address notation (e.g., ::ffff:127.0.0.1). An authenticated attacker (or unauthenticated if public permissions are enabled) can bypass the deny-list to reach internal services, databases, or cloud instance metadata services (IMDS). The underlying HTTP client and OS resolve these mapped addresses to their private IPv4 targets despite the bypass. The issue is resolved in version 11.16.0 by adding a normalization step prior to validation.
Affected products
- Directus Directus < 11.16.0
Timeline
- 2026-04-02: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published by vendor
- 2026-04-06: disclosed: CVE published to NVD
- 2026-04-06: patched: Fix released in version 11.16.0