CVE-2026-25544

Critical

Published: 06 February 2026

Published

06 February 2026

Modified

20 February 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0004 11.7th percentile

Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2026-25544 is a critical-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability in Payloadcms Payload. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 11.7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190). What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

prevent

Requires validation of user inputs for JSON and richText fields to prevent direct embedding into SQL queries without escaping, directly mitigating the blind SQL injection vulnerability.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Mandates timely identification, reporting, and correction of the specific SQL injection flaw fixed in Payload 3.73.0 through patching and updates.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning good match

detectrespond

Vulnerability scanning detects the SQL injection issue in Payload CMS and drives remediation to prevent exploitation by unauthenticated attackers.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

Blind SQL injection in public-facing Payload CMS web app directly enables remote unauthenticated exploitation for data access and account takeover per T1190.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v18.1

NVD Description

Payload is a free and open source headless content management system. Prior to 3.73.0, when querying JSON or richText fields, user input was directly embedded into SQL without escaping, enabling blind SQL injection attacks. An unauthenticated attacker could extract sensitive…

data (emails, password reset tokens) and achieve full account takeover without password cracking. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.73.0.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2026-25544 is a blind SQL injection vulnerability in Payload, a free and open source headless content management system. Prior to version 3.73.0, user input provided when querying JSON or richText fields was directly embedded into SQL queries without proper escaping, allowing attackers to manipulate database operations. The issue is classified under CWE-89 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), reflecting its critical severity due to high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.

An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low complexity and no privileges required. By crafting malicious queries, they can extract sensitive data such as user emails and password reset tokens from the database. This enables full account takeover without needing to crack passwords, potentially compromising entire user bases.

The vulnerability was published on 2026-02-06 and fixed in Payload version 3.73.0. The official advisory at https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/security/advisories/GHSA-xx6w-jxg9-2wh8 details the patch, recommending immediate upgrades to the fixed version for mitigation.