GHSA-xf6w-q65w-4f2w - ApostropheCMS: The general public can access @apostrophecms/user objects via a relationship (viewRole is not applied to the general public)
### Impact
Even though it is correctly applied to guests, contributors, etc., `viewRole` is not applied to the general public. This means that a secured content type like `@apostrophecms/user` can in theory be accessed.
This is greatly mitigated by the fact that there is no automatic public REST API for any content type. One has to expressly allow it. However, it does mean that developers can make the mistake of setting up a relationship between a content type like a blog post, and `@apostrophecms/user`. This could potentially expose some sensitive information if templates were written poorly, e.g. if they JSON-serialized the entire object. Note that password hashes are NOT affected because they reside in a separate collection.
The public demo project and its various flavors must be updated first because it inadvertently relies on the bug.
### Patches
4.33.0
### Workarounds
Never create relationships with `@apostrophecms/user` that are intended for non-admin display. If you need a relationship that expresses authorship, create a separate author piece type to publicly represent that.
MEDIUM
Severity & confidence
Source severitymedium
Platform severitymedium
Confidencemedium
Exploitationunknown
CVSS-
Affected
Vendorsapostrophe
Productsapostrophe
Reporting sources (1)
GitHub Security Advisories
Timeline & provenance
Published2026-10-20T18:26:02
Last updated2026-10-21T06:41:43
Ingested2026-10-20T18:37:50
FreshnessNEAR-REAL-TIME
Threat typeadvisory
Recommended action
Review the advisory and upgrade affected packages to the first patched version.
Next steps
- Identify affected systems in your environment.
- Apply the vendor patch or mitigation guidance.
- Review logs for indicators described in the advisory.
- Follow the affected vendor/product to track updates.
Confidence explanation
Reported by a single or secondary source; treat as indicative, verify before acting.
Source type: vendor ยท Original: GitHub Security Advisories