CVE-2026-105849 Payload: API key disclosure through ordinary document reads
Users with read access can obtain active API keys from authentication documents, allowing them to impersonate other accounts and escalate privileges.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-105849?
CVE-2026-105849 is a high-severity vulnerability in payloadcms payload, published on 6 Oct 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Payload is a free and open source headless content management system. In versions from 3.0.0 before 3.90.0 and canary versions before 4.0.0-canary.34, users with ordinary read access to other authentication documents in a collection with useAPIKey enabled can obtain active API keys and exercise the target accounts' permissions until those keys are rotated or disabled. This issue is fixed in versions 3.90.0 and 4.0.0-canary.34.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-105849?
4 open source packages ship an affected version, including payload. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
payload npm | From 3.0.0 | 3.90.0 |
payload npm | From 3.0.0 | 3.90.0 |
payload npm | From 4.0.0-canary.0 | 4.0.0-canary.34 |
payload npm | From 4.0.0-canary.0 | 4.0.0-canary.34 |
Products include Payloadcms Payload.
How do I fix CVE-2026-105849?
Upgrade payload to a fixed version for your release line: 3.90.0 or 4.0.0-canary.34.
Is CVE-2026-105849 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-105849 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in payloadcms payload
- CVE-2026-105857 Payload: RCE in Payload Form Builder
- CVE-2026-105859 Payload: Unauthorized update to collection documents
- CVE-2026-25544 Payload has an SQL Injection in JSON/RichText Queries on PostgreSQL/SQLite Adapters
- CVE-2022-27952 Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type in Payload
- CVE-2026-105851 Payload: Field access control bypass on auth collections
Sources
Also known as GHSA-238x-w2j9-gwwr.