Summary
Nuxt runtime payload cache discloses another user's SSR data across users and to unauthenticated clients
Workarounds
- Set
experimental.payloadExtraction: false(reporter-validated): the standalone/_payload.jsonendpoint returns 404 and the page still serves a 200 with an inline payload. - Do not apply
cache/swr/isrto authenticated pages that render user-specific SSR data. - As defense-in-depth, require authentication for
/**/_payload.jsonat a proxy / CDN. - After upgrading, purge any CDN / platform cache that may already hold protected payloads.
Impact
When a page is covered by routeRules cache / swr / isr, Nuxt enables runtime payload extraction and serves /<page>/_payload.json. On affected versions the renderer stored the SSR payload in the shared cache:nuxt:payload storage under a path-only key (no cookie, authorization, or cache.varies dimension) and, on a later payload request, returned the cached entry before route middleware / page guards ran again.
As a result, once any authenticated user warms a protected, cached page, a subsequent GET /<page>/_payload.json from an unauthenticated client or a different authenticated user receives the first user's payload: the full SSR data for that route, including anything loaded via useFetch / useAsyncData (for example /api/me: profile, tenant, billing, token-like values). The HTML response stays correctly varied and protected; only the extracted payload leaks. Both cross-user (A warms, B receives A) and unauthenticated disclosure are exploitable. cache.varies does not mitigate it, because the payload cache ignores varies.
Introduced when runtime payload extraction landed for cached routes (#34410); the regression is specific to the 4.x line, where the runtime cache:nuxt:payload storage was added and the import.meta.prerender gate on the payload-cache read/writes was dropped. The 3.x line shipped the same feature with the gate intact and is not affected.
The application does not perform an authorization check before performing a sensitive operation. Typical impact: unauthorized access to restricted functionality or data.
CVE-2026-71316 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (4.5.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Fixed in [email protected]. Runtime payload-cache reads and writes are again confined to prerendering (import.meta.prerender); at runtime, /<page>/_payload.json follows the normal render path so route middleware, routeRules.appMiddleware, and page guards run for the current request. main / v5 and the 3.x line already had this property, so 3.x is not affected.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-71316? CVE-2026-71316 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in nuxt (npm), affecting versions >= 4.4.0, <= 4.5.0. It is fixed in 4.5.1. The application does not perform an authorization check before performing a sensitive operation.
- How severe is CVE-2026-71316? CVE-2026-71316 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of nuxt are affected by CVE-2026-71316? nuxt (npm) versions >= 4.4.0, <= 4.5.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-71316? Yes. CVE-2026-71316 is fixed in 4.5.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-71316 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-71316 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-71316 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-71316? Upgrade
nuxtto 4.5.1 or later.