Vulnerabilities

pgAdmin 4's Import/Export Data tool builds a psql \copy (...) command line by interpolating a user-supplied SQL query into a Jinja template and passing the rendered line to psql via --command. To stop an attacker from breaking out of the (...) wrapper, create_import_export_job() (route POST /import_export/job/ , gated only by the ordinary, commonly-granted tools_import_export_data permission) validated the query with a hand-written parenthesis-balance checker, _is_query_parens_balanced(). That checker always treated a backslash before a single quote (\') as escaping the quote, i.e. as if standard_conforming_strings were off. PostgreSQL has defaulted standard_conforming_strings to on since 9.1 (2010), the default on every PostgreSQL version pgAdmin 4 currently supports (13-18); under that default psql's own \copy tokenizer treats \ as an ordinary character, so a single quote immediately after it closes the string literal. A query such as SELECT 'a\') TO PROGRAM 'echo pwned' x' was therefore accepted as "balanced" by pgAdmin's checker (which believed the ) was still inside the string), while psql, run through the actual rendered command line, closes the string at that point and treats the following ) as the end of the wrapping \copy (...) subquery, exposing an attacker-chosen TO PROGRAM ' ' clause that psql executes via popen() -- independent of a subsequent syntax error later on the same line. This is the same class of bug as CVE-2025-12762/CVE-2025-13780 (RCE via psql meta-command/COPY injection during PLAIN-format dump restore), reached through an independently written defense in a different module (Import/Export Data rather than Restore) that had its own, different logic bug (inverted backslash-escape semantics rather than a BOM-defeated regex anchor). The fix rejects any backslash inside a single-quoted string in the query outright, rather than picking one of the two possible psql interpretations. This is intentionally conservative: because the correct interpretation of \ depends on the target server's standard_conforming_strings setting, which the checker cannot reliably know at validation time, refusing the query is safer than guessing. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: from the introduction of _is_query_parens_balanced() before 9.18.

Two state-mutating endpoints in pgAdmin 4's SQL Editor blueprint -- DELETE /sqleditor/close/ and POST /sqleditor/initialize/sqleditor/update_connection/ / / -- were the only routes in the module missing the @pga_login_required decorator. Both reach a pickle.loads sink on session['gridData'][ ]['command_obj']: the close endpoint via close_sqleditor_session(), and update_sqleditor_connection via check_transaction_status(). In server mode these endpoints were reachable without any authenticated pgAdmin session. The defect is a missing-authentication-on-critical-function (CWE-306) wrapper around a deserialization-of-untrusted-data sink (CWE-502). Exploiting it for remote code execution requires the attacker to also forge a server-side session file whose gridData entry contains a malicious pickle payload, which in turn requires both (a) knowledge of pgAdmin's Flask SECRET_KEY (no chain to leak it is described here -- the attacker must already possess it) and (b) write access to pgAdmin's sessions/ directory on the host. Neither precondition is granted by this defect on its own. When those preconditions are met from another channel (misconfigured deployment, prior compromise, leaked configuration), the missing auth gate is the final hop that turns an existing partial compromise into unauthenticated code execution in the pgAdmin process -- and, by extension, on the host under whatever account runs pgAdmin. Fix is a one-line @pga_login_required decorator on each of the two endpoints, matching the convention used by every other route in the module. The is_authenticated / MFA chain now runs before the trans_id is dereferenced, so an unauthenticated request is rejected before reaching the deserialization path. The defect is server-mode only. In DESKTOP mode pgAdmin's before_request hook re-authenticates DESKTOP_USER on every request, so no endpoint can be exercised in an unauthenticated state and no auth decorator (or its absence) is meaningful. The accompanying regression test mirrors the attacker's path -- harvests an X-pgA-CSRFToken from GET /login and replays it against both endpoints -- and self-skips outside server mode for that reason; it is wired into the existing server-mode CI workflow alongside the data-isolation tests. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: from 6.9 before 9.16.

Authorization vulnerability in pgAdmin 4 server mode affecting Server Groups, Servers, Shared Servers, Background Processes, and Debugger modules. Multiple endpoints fetched user-owned objects without filtering by the requesting user's identity. An authenticated user could access another user's private servers, server groups, background processes, and debugger function arguments by guessing object IDs. Additionally, the Shared Servers feature contained multiple issues including credential leakage (passexec_cmd, passfile, SSL keys), privilege escalation via writable passexec_cmd (a shell command executed when establishing the connection) allowing arbitrary command execution in the owner's process context, and owner-data corruption via SQLAlchemy session mutations. Several owner-only fields (passexec_cmd, passexec_expiration, db_res, db_res_type) were writable by non-owners through the API, and additional fields (kerberos_conn, tags, post_connection_sql) lacked per-user persistence so non-owner edits mutated the owner's record. Fix centralises access control via a new server_access module, scopes all user-owned models with a UserScopedMixin, returns HTTP 410 from connection_manager when access is denied in server mode, suppresses owner-only fields for non-owners across the merge / API response / ServerManager paths, and adds an explicit owner-only write guard. The remediation landed in two pull requests; both are referenced. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.15.

pgAdmin versions 9.11 are affected by a Restore restriction bypass via key disclosure vulnerability that occurs when running in server mode and performing restores from PLAIN-format dump files. An attacker with access to the pgAdmin web interface can observe an active restore operation, extract the `\restrict` key in real time, and race the restore process by overwriting the restore script with a payload that re-enables meta-commands using `\unrestrict `. This results in reliable command execution on the pgAdmin host during the restore operation.

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, posing a critical risk to the integrity and security of the database management system and underlying data.

phpPgAdmin 7.13.0 and earlier contains a SQL injection vulnerability in display.php at line 396. The application passes user-controlled input from $_REQUEST['query'] directly to the browseQuery function without proper sanitization. An authenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary SQL commands through malicious query manipulation, potentially leading to complete database compromise.

pgAdmin versions up to 9.9 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, posing a critical risk to the integrity and security of the database management system and underlying data.

pgAdmin <= 9.7 is affected by a Cross-Origin Opener Policy (COOP) vulnerability. This vulnerability allows an attacker to manipulate the OAuth flow, potentially leading to unauthorised account access, account takeover, data breaches, and privilege escalation.

CVE-2025-2945 is a remote code execution vulnerability in pgAdmin 4 that arises from two POST endpoints passing user-controlled parameters directly into Python's eval() function (CWE-94, code injection). An attacker triggers it by sending crafted POST requests to /sqleditor/query_tool/download (query_commited parameter) or /cloud/deploy (high_availability parameter), causing arbitrary Python code to execute under the privileges of the pgAdmin server process. Successful exploitation yields full arbitrary code execution on the host running pgAdmin, consistent with the 8.8 (high) CVSS score; the vector (PR:L, UI:N) indicates a valid low-privileged pgAdmin login is required, with no user interaction needed. All pgAdmin 4 deployments before version 9.2 are affected, including server-mode, Docker, and desktop installations. The issue is not yet in CISA KEV, but a public proof-of-concept exists via the pgAdmin GitHub issue tracker and EPSS estimates a ~54% probability of exploitation within 30 days (99th percentile), so broad scanning and exploitation attempts are likely.

Do: Upgrade to pgAdmin 4 9.2 or later, which removes the unsafe eval() handling in both endpoints. If upgrading is delayed, restrict network access to the pgAdmin web interface (bind to localhost, VPN, or IP allowlists), ensure authentication is enforced, and audit logs for unusual POST requests to /sqleditor/query_tool/download and /cloud/deploy. Defenders should prioritize patching internet-exposed pgAdmin servers given the public PoC and elevated EPSS score.

A vulnerability was found in pgadmin. Users logging into pgAdmin running in server mode using LDAP authentication may be attached to another user's session if multiple connection attempts occur simultaneously.

When batch jobs are executed by pgAgent, a script is created in a temporary directory and then executed. In versions of pgAgent prior to 4.2.3, an insufficiently seeded random number generator is used when generating the directory name, leading to the possibility for a local attacker to pre-create the directory and thus prevent pgAgent from executing jobs, disrupting scheduled tasks.

pgAdmin versions 8.11 and earlier are vulnerable to a security flaw in OAuth2 authentication. This vulnerability allows an attacker to potentially obtain the client ID and secret, leading to unauthorized access to user data.

pgAdmin <= 8.8 has an installation Directory permission issue. Because of this issue, attackers can gain unauthorised access to the installation directory on the Debian or RHEL 8 platforms.

pgAdmin <= 8.5 is affected by a multi-factor authentication bypass vulnerability. This vulnerability allows an attacker with knowledge of a legitimate account’s username and password may authenticate to the application and perform sensitive actions within the application, such as managing files and executing SQL queries, regardless of the account’s MFA enrollment status.

pgAdmin <= 8.4 is affected by a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability through the validate binary path API. This vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on the server hosting PGAdmin, posing a severe risk to the database management system's integrity and the security of the underlying data.

pgAdmin <= 8.3 is affected by a path-traversal vulnerability while deserializing users’ sessions in the session handling code. If the server is running on Windows, an unauthenticated attacker can load and deserialize remote pickle objects and gain code execution. If the server is running on POSIX/Linux, an authenticated attacker can upload pickle objects, deserialize them, and gain code execution.

A flaw was found in pgAdmin. This issue occurs when the pgAdmin server HTTP API validates the path a user selects to external PostgreSQL utilities such as pg_dump and pg_restore. Versions of pgAdmin prior to 7.6 failed to properly control the server code executed on this API, allowing an authenticated user to run arbitrary commands on the server.

phpPgAdmin 7.14.4 and earlier is vulnerable to deserialization of untrusted data which may lead to remote code execution because user-controlled data is directly passed to the PHP 'unserialize()' function in multiple places. An example is the functionality to manage tables in 'tables.php' where the 'ma[]' POST parameter is deserialized.

pgAdmin 4 versions prior to v6.19 contains a directory traversal vulnerability. A user of the product may change another user's settings or alter the database.

Open redirect vulnerability in pgAdmin 4 versions prior to v6.14 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to redirect a user to an arbitrary web site and conduct a phishing attack by having a user to access a specially crafted URL.

The pgAdmin server includes an HTTP API that is intended to be used to validate the path a user selects to external PostgreSQL utilities such as pg_dump and pg_restore. The utility is executed by the server to determine what PostgreSQL version it is from. Versions of pgAdmin prior to 6.17 failed to properly secure this API, which could allow an unauthenticated user to call it with a path of their choosing, such as a UNC path to a server they control on a Windows machine. This would cause an appropriately named executable in the target path to be executed by the pgAdmin server.

A malicious, but authorised and authenticated user can construct an HTTP request using their existing CSRF token and session cookie to manually upload files to any location that the operating system user account under which pgAdmin is running has permission to write.

phppgadmin through 7.12.1 allows sensitive actions to be performed without validating that the request originated from the application. One such area, "database.php" does not verify the source of an HTTP request. This can be leveraged by a remote attacker to trick a logged-in administrator to visit a malicious page with a CSRF exploit and execute arbitrary system commands on the server.