Firebase Storage download URLs bypass your security rules

TL;DR

Treat download URLs like shared links, not permission checks. If a file must stay private, keep it under a path only its owner can read and do not hand the URL out.

Steps

1. Treat download URLs like shared links, not permission checks.
2. If a file must stay private, keep it under a path only its owner can read and do not hand the URL out.

When to use

You are seeing this: Treat download URLs like shared links, not permission checks. Use this skill when you run into "Firebase Storage download URLs bypass your security rules".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Source: A Firebase Storage download URL includes a token that grants read access no matter what your storage rules say afterwards. Locking down the rules later does not kill URLs already in circulation. The only way to revoke one is to rotate the object download token in the Firebase console.

Verified resolution: Treat download URLs like shared links, not permission checks. If a file must stay private, keep it under a path only its owner can read and do not hand the URL out.

Source URL: https://firebase.google.com/docs/reference/swift/firebasestorage/api/reference/Classes/StorageReference