Vulnerability · Published Sep 15, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-59965@jhb.software/payload-alt-text-plugin: Alt Text Endpoint Authorization Bypass via Payload Local API `overrideAccess` Omission
High 7.1
In plain English
A high-severity incorrect authorization in payload-alt-text-plugin from @jhb.software. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 32% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Payload Plugins is a collection of plugins designed to enhance Payload CMS. In 0.7.0, @jhb.software/payload-alt-text-plugin exposes POST /api/alt-text-plugin/generate and POST /api/alt-text-plugin/bulk with a default guard that accepts any authenticated user, while alt-text/src/endpoints/generateAltText.ts and alt-text/src/endpoints/bulkGenerateAltTexts.ts call req.payload.findByID and req.payload.update without overrideAccess: false. Payload therefore defaults overrideAccess to true and skips the target collection's read and update access functions. An authenticated low-privilege user can supply id, collection, locale, and update values to read arbitrary protected upload documents and overwrite their alt and keywords fields, even when the collection permits those operations only to administrators. A control Local API call with overrideAccess: false is denied, confirming that the plugin endpoint bypasses otherwise effective collection rules. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.8.0.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | @jhb.software/payload-alt-text-plugin | 0.8.0 | GHSA-4qpv-39hg-f7fx |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| jhb-software | payload-plugins | < 0.8.0 |
| @jhb.software | payload-alt-text-plugin | < 0.8.0 |
Weakness: CWE-863 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N
References
- https://github.com/jhb-software/payload-plugins/security/advisories/GHSA-4qpv-39hg-f7fx x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/jhb-software/payload-plugins/pull/159 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/jhb-software/payload-plugins/commit/e39634868ce13a414e2981e219befc58101654d3 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/jhb-software/payload-plugins/releases/tag/alt-text@0.8.0 x_refsource_MISC