CVE-2025-4643VulnerabilityPublished 29 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-4643: Payload · Insufficient Session Expiration

Affects PayloadSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.3 Medium · fixed in 3.44.0 : update Payload when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 07:57 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

6.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 33% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.44.0

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low
Vulnerable system integrity: Low
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: High: The successful attack depends on the evasion or circumvention of security-enhancing techniques in place that would otherwise hinder the attack. These include: Evasion of exploit mitigation techniques, for example, circumvention of address space randomization (ASLR) or data execution prevention (DEP) must be performed for the attack to be successful; Obtaining target-specific secrets. The attacker must gather some target-specific secret before the attack can be successful. A secret is any piece of information that cannot be obtained through any amount of reconnaissance. To obtain the secret the attacker must perform additional attacks or break otherwise secure measures (e.g. knowledge of a secret key may be needed to break a crypto channel). This operation must be performed for each attacked target.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Payload CMS Payload	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately verify the version of Payload CMS in use and upgrade to version 3.44.0 or later where the vulnerability is patched. Beyond upgrading, organizations should implement additional security controls: 1) Enforce short JWT expiration times to limit token reuse windows. 2) Implement token revocation lists or maintain server-side session state to invalidate tokens on logout or suspicious activity. 3) Use secure transport layers (TLS) to prevent token interception. 4) Employ multi-factor authentication to reduce the impact of token theft. 5) Monitor logs for unusual token usage patterns indicative of session hijacking. 6) Educate users and administrators about secure session management and token handling. 7) Consider implementing HTTP-only and secure cookie flags if tokens are stored in cookies to reduce client-side exposure. These measures collectively reduce the risk of token theft and unauthorized reuse beyond the patch itself.

Description

Payload uses JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for authentication. After log out JWT is not invalidated, which allows an attacker who has stolen or intercepted token to freely reuse it until expiration date (which is by default set to 2 hours, but can be changed). This issue has been fixed in version 3.44.0 of Payload.

Impact

For European organizations using Payload CMS, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of their web applications and data. Attackers who obtain valid JWTs can impersonate users, potentially gaining unauthorized access to sensitive content, administrative functions, or user data. This can lead to data breaches, unauthorized content modification, or disruption of services. Since Payload CMS is often used for managing web content, compromised sessions could allow attackers to inject malicious content or deface websites, damaging organizational reputation. The medium severity rating indicates that while the vulnerability is not trivially exploitable, the impact of successful exploitation can be substantial. European organizations in sectors such as media, education, government, and e-commerce that rely on Payload CMS for their web presence are particularly at risk. Additionally, the GDPR framework in Europe mandates strict data protection; a breach resulting from this vulnerability could lead to regulatory penalties and loss of customer trust.

CWE-613Insufficient Session Expiration (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
According to WASC, "Insufficient Session Expiration is when a web site permits an attacker to reuse old session credentials or session IDs for authorization."
Implementation
Set sessions/credentials expiration date.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V2.8.1 (opens in a new tab)
V2.8.6 (opens in a new tab)
V3.6.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 29 Aug 2025, 10:32 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-613

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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