Unexpected Behavior in Linked Dataflows — Bypassing Workspace Access Restrictions

[DZL2]

Hi Microsoft Fabric Team,

I’ve encountered an unexpected behavior in Power BI/Fabric related to linked dataflows across workspaces, and I wanted to raise it for awareness and clarification.

Scenario:

• I have a dataflow in Workspace A that I want to reference in Workspace B.
• Workspace B is accessible to a colleague who should not have access to Workspace A.
• Normally, linking a dataflow entity from Workspace A into Workspace B requires the user to have access to Workspace A — which aligns with the documented behavior.

What I Discovered:

If I disable load on the linked entity (so it appears italicized), and then reference it in a new query within the same dataflow, the usual access restrictions disappear:

• The new query can be loaded and used without requiring access to Workspace A.
• No additional transformations are needed — even a simple reference like = EntityName works.
• This effectively bypasses the linked entity access control, allowing users to use data they technically shouldn’t be able to access.

Why This Is Concerning:

• It undermines the security model around linked dataflows.
• It’s not documented, and feels like an unintended loophole.
• It could lead to inconsistent governance in enterprise environments where workspace boundaries are critical.

Why It’s Useful:

Ironically, this behavior allowed me to achieve exactly what I needed — sharing a specific dataflow across workspaces without exposing the entire source workspace. But it feels like a workaround that shouldn’t work, and I’m concerned it might break in future updates or introduce risks.

Could you clarify whether this is:

• An intended feature?
• An unintended loophole?
• Something that will be addressed or changed in future releases?

Kind Regards,

David

(and I totally used Copilot to write this message)

[v-ssriganesh]

Hello @DZL2,
We regret the inconvenience caused. Please consider raising a Microsoft support ticket for further investigation. You can explain all the troubleshooting steps you have taken to help them better understand the issue.

You can create a Microsoft support ticket with the help of the link below:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/support/create-support-ticket

[v-ssriganesh]

Hello @DZL2,

We are following up once again regarding your query. Could you please confirm if the issue has been resolved through the support ticket with Microsoft?

If the issue has been resolved, we kindly request you to share the resolution or key insights here to help others in the community. 

Thank you.

[Sahir_Maharaj · Accepted solution]

Hello @DZL2,

Thanks for your question.

So, in short - what you found is a bug / loophole, not an official feature.

It undermines workspace access controls and will almost certainly be corrected.

For production use, stick to the documented sharing/security methods 🙂