Usability issue: Permission terminology is misleading

[shift-tyson]

Prerequisites

• I have searched the existing Closed AND Open Issues AND Discussions
• I have searched and read the documentation

Vaultwarden Support String

Your environment (Generated via diagnostics page)

• Vaultwarden version: v1.36.0
• Web-vault version: v2026.4.1
• OS/Arch: linux/x86_64
• Running within a container: true (Base: Debian)
• Database type: SQLite
• Database version: 3.51.3
• Uses config.json: true
• Uses a reverse proxy: true
• IP Header check: true (X-Real-IP)
• Internet access: true
• Internet access via a proxy: false
• DNS Check: true
• Browser/Server Time Check: true
• Server/NTP Time Check: true
• Domain Configuration Check: true
• HTTPS Check: true
• Websocket Check: true
• HTTP Response Checks: true

Config & Details (Generated via diagnostics page)

Show Config & Details

Environment settings which are overridden: DOMAIN, SIGNUPS_ALLOWED, ADMIN_TOKEN, SMTP_HOST, SMTP_SECURITY, SMTP_PORT, SMTP_FROM, SMTP_USERNAME, SMTP_PASSWORD, SMTP_AUTH_MECHANISM

Config:

{
  "_duo_akey": null,
  "_enable_duo": true,
  "_enable_email_2fa": true,
  "_enable_smtp": true,
  "_enable_yubico": true,
  "_icon_service_csp": "",
  "_icon_service_url": "",
  "_ip_header_enabled": true,
  "_max_note_size": 10000,
  "_smtp_img_src": "***:",
  "admin_ratelimit_max_burst": 3,
  "admin_ratelimit_seconds": 300,
  "admin_session_lifetime": 20,
  "admin_token": "***",
  "allowed_connect_src": "",
  "allowed_iframe_ancestors": "",
  "attachments_folder": "data/attachments",
  "auth_request_purge_schedule": "30 * * * * *",
  "authenticator_disable_time_drift": false,
  "data_folder": "data",
  "database_conn_init": "",
  "database_idle_timeout": 600,
  "database_max_conns": 10,
  "database_min_conns": 2,
  "database_timeout": 30,
  "database_url": "***************",
  "db_connection_retries": 15,
  "disable_2fa_remember": false,
  "disable_admin_token": false,
  "disable_icon_download": false,
  "dns_prefer_ipv6": false,
  "domain": "*****://**********************",
  "domain_origin": "*****://**********************",
  "domain_path": "",
  "domain_set": true,
  "duo_context_purge_schedule": "30 * * * * *",
  "duo_host": null,
  "duo_ikey": null,
  "duo_skey": null,
  "duo_use_iframe": false,
  "email_2fa_auto_fallback": false,
  "email_2fa_enforce_on_verified_invite": false,
  "email_attempts_limit": 3,
  "email_change_allowed": true,
  "email_expiration_time": 600,
  "email_token_size": 6,
  "emergency_access_allowed": true,
  "emergency_notification_reminder_schedule": "0 3 * * * *",
  "emergency_request_timeout_schedule": "0 7 * * * *",
  "enable_db_wal": true,
  "enable_websocket": true,
  "enforce_single_org_with_reset_pw_policy": false,
  "event_cleanup_schedule": "0 10 0 * * *",
  "events_days_retain": null,
  "experimental_client_feature_flags": "",
  "extended_logging": true,
  "helo_name": null,
  "hibp_api_key": null,
  "http_request_block_non_global_ips": true,
  "http_request_block_regex": null,
  "icon_blacklist_non_global_ips": true,
  "icon_blacklist_regex": null,
  "icon_cache_folder": "data/icon_cache",
  "icon_cache_negttl": 259200,
  "icon_cache_ttl": 2592000,
  "icon_download_timeout": 10,
  "icon_redirect_code": 302,
  "icon_service": "internal",
  "incomplete_2fa_schedule": "30 * * * * *",
  "incomplete_2fa_time_limit": 3,
  "increase_note_size_limit": false,
  "invitation_expiration_hours": 120,
  "invitation_org_name": "Vaultwarden",
  "invitations_allowed": true,
  "ip_header": "X-Real-IP",
  "job_poll_interval_ms": 30000,
  "log_file": null,
  "log_level": "info",
  "log_timestamp_format": "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%3f",
  "login_ratelimit_max_burst": 10,
  "login_ratelimit_seconds": 60,
  "org_attachment_limit": null,
  "org_creation_users": "",
  "org_events_enabled": false,
  "org_groups_enabled": false,
  "password_hints_allowed": true,
  "password_iterations": 600000,
  "purge_incomplete_sso_auth": "0 20 0 * * *",
  "push_enabled": false,
  "push_identity_uri": "https://identity.bitwarden.com",
  "push_installation_id": "***",
  "push_installation_key": "***",
  "push_relay_uri": "https://push.bitwarden.com",
  "reload_templates": false,
  "require_device_email": false,
  "rsa_key_filename": "data/rsa_key",
  "send_purge_schedule": "0 5 * * * *",
  "sendmail_command": null,
  "sends_allowed": true,
  "sends_folder": "data/sends",
  "show_password_hint": false,
  "signups_allowed": false,
  "signups_domains_whitelist": "",
  "signups_verify": false,
  "signups_verify_resend_limit": 6,
  "signups_verify_resend_time": 3600,
  "smtp_accept_invalid_certs": false,
  "smtp_accept_invalid_hostnames": false,
  "smtp_auth_mechanism": "Login",
  "smtp_debug": false,
  "smtp_embed_images": true,
  "smtp_explicit_tls": null,
  "smtp_from": "**********************",
  "smtp_from_name": "***********",
  "smtp_host": "**********************",
  "smtp_password": "***",
  "smtp_port": 587,
  "smtp_security": "starttls",
  "smtp_ssl": null,
  "smtp_timeout": 15,
  "smtp_username": "**********************",
  "sso_allow_unknown_email_verification": false,
  "sso_audience_trusted": null,
  "sso_auth_only_not_session": false,
  "sso_authority": "",
  "sso_authorize_extra_params": "",
  "sso_callback_path": "*****://***************************************************",
  "sso_client_cache_expiration": 0,
  "sso_client_id": "",
  "sso_client_secret": "***",
  "sso_debug_tokens": false,
  "sso_enabled": false,
  "sso_master_password_policy": null,
  "sso_only": false,
  "sso_pkce": true,
  "sso_scopes": "email profile",
  "sso_signups_match_email": true,
  "templates_folder": "data/templates",
  "tmp_folder": "data/tmp",
  "trash_auto_delete_days": null,
  "trash_purge_schedule": "0 5 0 * * *",
  "use_sendmail": false,
  "use_syslog": false,
  "user_attachment_limit": null,
  "user_send_limit": null,
  "web_vault_enabled": true,
  "web_vault_folder": "web-vault/",
  "yubico_client_id": null,
  "yubico_secret_key": null,
  "yubico_server": null
}

Vaultwarden Build Version

1.36.0

Deployment method

Official Container Image

Custom deployment method

The permission labels in the collection management UI are ambiguously worded and easily misread. Labels containing the phrase "hidden passwords" are intended to mean the password is hidden from a user with that permission, but the phrasing reads as though "hidden passwords" is an additional capability being granted.
Example:

The label "Edit items, hidden passwords" is naturally parsed as:

"Edit items and hidden passwords" (granting two abilities)

When the intended meaning is:

"Edit items; passwords are hidden" (granting edit access, but with passwords obscured)

Reverse Proxy

no

Host/Server Operating System

Linux

Operating System Version

debian 12

Clients

Web Vault

Client Version

No response

Steps To Reproduce

1. Log in to admin console
2. Click on "Members"
3. Click on any member
4. Select a Collection from the dropdown
5. Click on the Permissions dropdown
6. See list of permissions, with ambiguous wording

Expected Result

Suggested fix:
Reword the labels to make the restriction unambiguous, e.g.:

"Edit items (passwords hidden)"
"View items (passwords hidden)"

or similar

Actual Result

This is a security-sensitive area. A user configuring access could grant broader visibility than intended (or believe a password is hidden when they think they're granting an extra capability), because the label structure suggests "hidden passwords" is something being added rather than a restriction on what's visible.

Logs

Screenshots or Videos

No response

Additional Context

No response

[BlackDex]

See https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/FAQs#i-have-a-feature-request-for-the-web-vault-or-any-other-client

This project does not develop or maintain any client, including the web-vault.

[stefan0xC]

This would have to be changed in the upstream repository and then this would make it's way also in the bitwarden-web Crowdin project because it would have to be translated into other languages as well.