Ihor Fridman shared a tutorial that can solve the problem of having only four channels by implementing vertex color ID masks nodes, which gives you 9 individual scalar masks from a single vertex color layer.

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A UE5 plugin solves the limitation of only having 4 RGBA vertex color channels by extracting 9 individual scalar masks from a single vertex color layer. By painting meshes with 6 pure colors (Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Yellow, Magenta) and splitting the alpha channel into 3 additional masks, artists can create complex material blending without extra memory or UV channels. The solution uses only 15 shader instructions compared to 80+ for traditional color-distance methods, making it suitable for all platforms including mobile. The plugin has been production-tested on large environment art projects and works seamlessly with Nanite meshes.

Breakdown: Vertex Color to ID Masks UE5 Plugin