Unauthenticated critical flaw in widely used Ceridian Dayforce payroll product exposing payroll and config data; affects enterprise HR/payroll systems and risks broad disruption.
CVE-2026-73642
Unauthenticated path traversal in Dayforce Payroll allows arbitrary local file download.
Is CVE-2026-73642 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-73642 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked.
How severe is CVE-2026-73642?
CVE-2026-73642 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.2. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-73642?
Not known from our data. No patch reference has been recorded for CVE-2026-73642, which is not the same as no patch existing — a fix may have shipped without a tagged reference, or after this record was written. The vendor advisory is the only authority on whether a fix exists, and mitigations may be available regardless.
What does CVE-2026-73642 affect?
CVE-2026-73642 affects Ceridian Dayforce Payroll R2026.2.0, Ceridian Dayforce (other versions may be affected). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-73642?
Block access to download endpoint, apply WAF rules, restrict public access, and deploy vendor patch when available; rotate exposed creds.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Unauthenticated attackers can download arbitrary local files (payroll records, configs, credentials), enabling data exfiltration and facilitating further compromise.
Immediate action required
- affectedR2026.2.0
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.