Payload: Password hashes use insufficient PBKDF2 iterations

published 2026-10-06 34 d ago modified 2026-10-06 33 d ago also EUVD-2026-93463 , GHSA-q6mq-ch85-c8mm

cvss: 5.7; version 4.0, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.1%; EPSS 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 0%
public exploits: 0; none known

Payload is a free and open source headless content management system. Payload versions from 3.0.0 before 3.90.0 and canary versions from 4.0.0-canary.0 before 4.0.0-canary.34 use a lower-than-recommended PBKDF2 work factor for password hashing, reducing the computational effort required to test recovered password hashes. This issue is fixed in versions 3.90.0 and 4.0.0-canary.34.

Patch / fix

fixed in 2 links 2

npm payload 3.90.0, 4.0.0-canary.34
payloadcms payload 3.90.0, 4.0.0-canary.34

github.com/payloadcms/payload@1bc76e5 commit
github.com/payloadcms/payload/releases/tag/v3.90.0 release

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial
Assessed: 33 d ago (2026-10-06)

Exploit prediction

0.08% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 0% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	4.0	5.7	CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA	4.0	5.7	CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/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

Affected packages

ecosystem	package	affected	fixed in
npm	payload	>=3.0.0, <3.90.0 >=4.0.0-canary.0, <4.0.0-canary.34	3.90.0 4.0.0-canary.34

Affected products

payloadcms payload

Classification

Weakness

CWE-916 Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.

Summary