Firebase storage security rules not working for folder

Question

I have the following rule in my Firebase Storage. But still, I am able to access the images when I have the link that starts with "https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/", even when I am not authorized/authenticated. I have a folder called toyCarImages and I want to allow writes from the public and reads from only authorized accounts

rules_version = '2';
service firebase.storage {
  match /b/{bucket}/o {
    match /{allPaths=**} {
      // allow read, write: if request.auth == null;
      allow read: if request.auth != null;
      allow write: if request.resource.size < 5 * 1024 * 1024
                   && request.resource.contentType.matches('image/.*');
    }
  }
}

How can I fix this issue? I am using getDownloadUrl() method in my application. How secure is it when using getDownloadUrl() ?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

A download URL gives public read-only access to the file to anyone who has that URL. Access to a file through a download URL is not secured by the rules of your storage bucket.

If you want to block a certain download URL, your only option is to revoke that URL from the Firebase console.