CVE-2026-116250
MediumCVSS 6.5Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk1th percentile - higher than 1% of all known CVEs
Summary
In server mode pgAdmin 4 validated a user-supplied file path in the storage directory with check_access_permission() and then opened it by name using a plain open() or passed the path to utilities (pg_dump, pg_dumpall, pg_restore, psql) and to servers.json export/import and import file listing. Swapping in a symbolic or hard link or a FIFO between the check and the open redirected the operation outside the storage directory, allowing a file to be written, overwritten or read, or loaded into a table, as the pgAdmin operating-system account. This affects pgAdmin 4 before 9.19.
Risk Assessment
Exploitation requires write access to the storage backend as a different operating-system user (e.g., shared or network-mounted storage) and winning the race, so the risk is limited, but in such environments it can lead to unauthorized file read, write or overwrite and request hangs via FIFO.
Recommendation
Update pgAdmin 4 to version 9.19 or later. Restrict write access to storage directories to the pgAdmin account only and avoid shared or network-mounted storage for these directories.
Other vulnerabilities in pgAdmin 4
See all- CVE-2026-116241Critical
pgAdmin 4 before 9.19 contains a bypass of the CVE-2026-17566 fix in the Import/Export Data tool. Improper validation of a backslash inside a double-quoted identifier hides a closing parenthesis and executes a TO PROGRAM clause via psql on the pgAdmin host with the OS account privileges.
- CVE-2026-86863Critical
In pgAdmin 4, the 'webserver' authentication source was vulnerable because WebserverAuthentication.get_user() fell back to reading the username directly from inbound HTTP request headers when the WSGI/CGI environment lookup returned nothing. As a result, any client able to reach pgAdmin could supply that header itself and authenticate as any username, including an existing Administrator, without a password. The issue affects versions from 6.2 before 9.18 and only applies when 'webserver' is enabled in AUTHENTICATION_SOURCES.
- CVE-2026-17566Critical
A vulnerability in pgAdmin 4 allows remote code execution (RCE) via injection into the Import/Export Data tool. The validation function incorrectly handles backslashes in SQL strings, enabling bypass of protections and addition of a TO PROGRAM clause to psql commands.
- CVE-2026-17351Critical
A vulnerability in pgAdmin 4 (versions 9.13 to 9.16) allows bypassing the CVE-2026-12045 fix by injecting SQL queries into the AI assistant. An attacker can plant a malicious payload in an object read by the assistant, leading to execution of multiple SQL statements, including write or remote code execution.
- CVE-2026-17349Critical
In the adhoc_connect_server function in pgAdmin 4 9.0-9.16, when a non-owner user clones a server, all columns including credentials (passwords) and ownership flags are copied. This allows an attacker to take over the cloned server and use database passwords belonging to another user (e.g., an administrator).
- CVE-2026-12048Critical
A stored cross-site scripting vulnerability exists in pgAdmin 4 versions 6.0 through 9.15. Text returned by a PostgreSQL server (e.g., object names in errors or EXPLAIN fields) was passed verbatim to html-react-parser, allowing injection of arbitrary HTML, including iframes. An attacker controlling the server or creating a maliciously named object can hijack the victim's pgAdmin session.
- CVE-2026-12046Critical
In pgAdmin 4 versions 6.9 through 9.15, two SQL Editor endpoints lack authentication decorators, allowing unauthenticated attackers to trigger pickle deserialization from server sessions. Exploitation requires additional preconditions (knowledge of SECRET_KEY and write access to sessions directory) to achieve remote code execution.
- CVE-2026-12045Critical
A vulnerability in the pgAdmin 4 AI Assistant allows an attacker who can influence database content read by the assistant to execute arbitrary SQL with the privileges of the pgAdmin user's database role. The flaw stems from missing validation of LLM-generated queries, enabling bypass of read-only mode via injection of commands like COMMIT or ROLLBACK.
- CVE-2026-7813Critical
In pgAdmin 4 server mode, multiple endpoints fetched user-owned objects without filtering by the requesting user's identity, allowing an authenticated user to access another user's private servers, server groups, background processes, and debugger arguments by guessing object IDs. The Shared Servers feature had additional issues including credential leakage, privilege escalation via writable passexec_cmd enabling arbitrary command execution, and owner-data corruption.
- CVE-2025-13780Critical
pgAdmin versions up to 9.10 are affected by a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability that occurs when running in server mode and performing restores from PLAIN-format dump files. This issue allows attackers to inject and execute arbitrary commands on the server hosting pgAdmin.
Original NVD description (English source)
In server mode pgAdmin 4 validates a path a user gives for a file in their storage directory with check_access_permission() and then opened it by name. Several places opened it with a plain open() or handed the path to a utility that opened it later: the servers.json export and import and the import file listing, and the files given to pg_dump, pg_dumpall, pg_restore and psql by Backup, Restore and Import/Export Data. A symbolic link swapped in at the file or at any parent directory between the check and the open redirected the operation outside the storage directory, so a file could be written, overwritten or read, or loaded into a table, as the operating-system account running pgAdmin. A hard link to an outside file, which O_NOFOLLOW does not detect, and a FIFO, which could hang a request, had the same effect. CVE-2026-86861 fixed this for the File Manager's save_file; these were the remaining paths. Exploitation requires creating such a link or FIFO inside the user's storage directory. pgAdmin offers no way to do so, and the per-user storage directories belong to the pgAdmin account, so this requires write access to the storage backend as a different operating-system user, for example a shared or network-mounted storage directory, and winning the race. The fix opens each file by walking down from the storage directory one component at a time with O_NOFOLLOW, accepting only a regular file with one link, and passes the utilities the open descriptor (/dev/fd/N) on Linux. Error messages no longer include the server path. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.19.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS