CVE-2026-25574 — payload
MEDIUMCVE-2026-25574 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) CWE-639 vulnerability in payload. A fix is available for payload — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Payload Affected by Cross-Collection IDOR in payload-preferences Access Control (Multi-Auth Environments)
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-25574.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2026-25574 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
payloadnpmDescription
Impact
A cross-collection Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability exists in the payload-preferences internal collection. In multi-auth collection environments using Postgres or SQLite with default serial/auto-increment IDs, authenticated users from one auth collection can read and delete preferences belonging to users in different auth collections when their numeric IDs collide.
Users are affected if ALL of these are true:
- Multiple auth collections configured (e.g.,
admins+customers) - Postgres or SQLite database adapter with serial/auto-increment IDs
- Users in different auth collections with the same numeric ID
Not affected:
@payloadcms/db-mongodbadapter- Single auth collection environments
- Postgres/SQLite with
idType: 'uuid'
Patches
This vulnerability has been patched in v3.74.0. Users should upgrade to v3.74.0 or later.
Workarounds
There is no workaround other than upgrading. Users with multiple auth collections using Postgres or SQLite with serial IDs should upgrade immediately.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | payload | all versions | 3.74.0npm install payload@3.74.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for payload, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update payload to 3.74.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-25574 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-25574 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-25574. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-25574 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-25574 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.