CVE Intelligence
Medium Authentication

CVE-2025-4644 — User Session Fixation after Account Removal in PayloadCMS

A Session Fixation vulnerability existed in Payload's SQLite adapter due to identifier reuse during account creation. A malicious attacker could create a new account, save its JSON Web Token (JWT), and then delete the account, which did not invalidate the JWT. As a result, the next newly created user would receive the same identifier, allowing the attacker to reuse the JWT to authenticate and perform actions as that user. This issue has been fixed in version 3.44.0 of Payload.

Published Aug 29, 2025 · Updated Oct 19, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: CERT-PL

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.4% (30-day exploitation probability)+5
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.41%
ahead of 34% of scored CVEs · Oct 20, 2026
Affects
@payloadcms
Payload and 2 more
CVSS base
5.3
Medium · 2 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Npm Payload: fixed in version 3.44.0 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Npm @payloadcms/next: fixed in version 3.44.0 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Npm @payloadcms/graphql: fixed in version 3.44.0 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (@payloadcms Payload, Npm @payloadcms/graphql, Npm @payloadcms/next…).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  4. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
  5. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (authentication), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
@payloadcms Payload < 3.44.0 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Npm @payloadcms/graphql < 3.44.0 Vulnerable GitHub Security Advisories
Npm @payloadcms/next < 3.44.0 Vulnerable GitHub Security Advisories
Npm Payload < 3.44.0 Vulnerable GitHub Security Advisories

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Passive
Scope
X
Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
Low
Integrity (vulnerable system)
Low
Availability (vulnerable system)
None
Confidentiality (subsequent)
None
Integrity (subsequent)
None
Availability (subsequent)
None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
5.3 CVSS 4.0 Medium — — cvd@cert.pl via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.3 CVSS 4.0 Medium — — CERT-PL via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X (score shown at the top: cvd@cert.pl)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-384 · Session Fixation

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 19, 2026 → Oct 20, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.41%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Review authentication logs: logins without MFA, anomalous sessions and recently created accounts.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSauthentication logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 19, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisories
  • Affected products added · npm/payload, npm/@payloadcms/next, npm/@payloadcms/graphql
    Oct 19, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisories
  • Affected products added · payload cms/payload
    Oct 19, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 19, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 19, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 5.3
    Oct 19, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Deferred
    Oct 19, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 19, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Aug 29, 2025 · CERT-PL

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 19, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 19, 2026 – Oct 19, 2026

References

6 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

@payloadcms
every CVE for this vendor
Authentication
same class
CWE-384
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-105867 Payload: Client uploads could overwrite S3 objects 15d
  • CVE-2026-106100 Payload: Field-level write access bypass in Payload on MongoDB 15d
  • CVE-2026-105868 Payload: Uploaded XML files could execute same-origin JavaScript 15d
  • CVE-2026-105860 Payload: Tenant authorization bypass in Multi-Tenant Plugin 15d
  • CVE-2026-105866 Payload: Unauthenticated account-lockout denial of service 15d
  • CVE-2026-105864 Payload: Cross-tenant create in @payloadcms/plugin-multi-tenant 15d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2025-4644 is "User Session Fixation after Account Removal in PayloadCMS", rated Medium. It affects Payload (@payloadcms); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.3 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.41% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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