CVE-2026-17350
MediumCVSS 5.4Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk12th percentile - higher than 12% of all known CVEs
Summary
The role-based tool permission system in pgAdmin 4 (versions 9.3-9.17) lacked consistent enforcement. The permissions_required decorator was applied only to the main route of each tool, while other backend routes and Socket.IO handlers only checked authentication, not the specific tool permission. This allowed an authenticated user without the required permission to fully use the tool (e.g., psql, backup, restore) via alternative paths.
Risk Assessment
The organization may lose control over segregation of duties (SoD) at the pgAdmin level. An administrator who explicitly denied a user access to a specific tool (e.g., psql, backup) cannot be sure the user is not using it, violating security policy and potentially leading to unauthorized database operations.
Recommendation
Immediately upgrade pgAdmin 4 to version 9.17 or later, which includes a fix adding the socket_permissions_required decorator and applying it to all routes and Socket.IO handlers for the affected tools.
Other vulnerabilities in pgAdmin 4
See all- CVE-2026-7819High
There is a path traversal vulnerability using symbolic links in pgAdmin 4 File Manager. An authenticated user can create a symbolic link in their directory pointing outside of it, allowing data to be written to any path accessible by the pgAdmin process.
- CVE-2026-7818High
In pgAdmin 4 FileBackedSessionManager, there is a vulnerability to deserialization of untrusted data, which can lead to remote code execution at the operating system level. This issue arises from the lack of proper integrity checks before deserializing session file contents.
- CVE-2026-7816High
In pgAdmin 4 before version 9.15, there is an OS command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the Import/Export query export feature. An authenticated user could inject malicious commands, leading to arbitrary command execution on the pgAdmin server or arbitrary file writes.
- CVE-2026-7815High
A SQL injection vulnerability in the pgAdmin 4 Maintenance Tool allows an authenticated user with tools_maintenance permissions to execute arbitrary SQL commands on the PostgreSQL server. Exploiting this vulnerability could lead to privilege escalation and execution of operating system commands on the database host.
- 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.
Original NVD description (English source)
The per-tool permission system (custom roles / role-based tool permissions, introduced in pgAdmin 4 9.3) did not enforce its permission check consistently. In SERVER mode, pgAdmin 4 gates each tool behind a per-tool Flask-Security permission, but the permission decorator (permissions_required) was applied only to a single "front door" route per tool. Every other backend route and Socket.IO handler in that tool's workflow relied solely on pga_login_required/socket_login_required, which check authentication but not the tool permission. The reporter verified three cases against a test build: (1) a user without tools_query_tool permission received 403 on the protected sqleditor initialization route, but the same session went on to connect the server, initialize the viewdata backend chain, and retrieve real table row content; (2) a user without tools_grant_wizard received 403 on the protected acl route, but the same session still enumerated grantable objects, generated GRANT SQL, and successfully applied it -- confirmed database-side via has_table_privilege(); (3) a user without tools_schema_diff received 403 on the protected panel route, but the same session initialized schema diff, enumerated and connected databases, and obtained real DDL differences via the compare_database Socket.IO handler. The reporter also confirmed a related but distinct issue: a non-owner triggering /misc/workspace/adhoc_connect_server against an administrator-owned shared server caused pgAdmin to persist a new server row still owned by the administrator (user_id/shared unchanged from the source), even though the connection attempt itself reported failure. During remediation, the same front-door-only permission gap was found to also affect the ERD, PSQL, and Debugger tools, and the Backup, Restore, Maintenance, and Import/Export blueprints, none of which were part of the original report; these were fixed using the same pattern as an extension of the reported defect class. An authenticated user who had valid pgAdmin login and a stored, working database connection, but had been explicitly denied a specific tool's permission by an administrator, could therefore still drive that tool end-to-end through its other routes and sockets, including obtaining an interactive psql session over the /pty Socket.IO namespace and invoking backup/restore/maintenance/import-export jobs. Because the bypass only restores access to tools operating over the user's own already-authenticated database connection, it does not grant the user any database privilege they did not already hold; it circumvents pgAdmin's own tool-level access-control policy (an organisational segregation-of-duties control, separate from database-level authorization), letting a user reach a pgAdmin feature an administrator intended to withhold from them, using capabilities their existing database role already permits through other means. Socket.IO event handlers had no permission-aware equivalent of permissions_required; only socket_login_required existed, checking authentication but not the tool permission. Fix adds a socket_permissions_required decorator (mirroring permissions_required, honouring the Administrator bypass, reading permissions via has_permission()) and applies it, alongside permissions_required, as the outermost decorator on every backend route and Socket.IO handler for the affected tools. Regression tests assert 403 on every gated route and socket handler for a permission-less user. This issue affects pgAdmin 4 in SERVER mode: from 9.3 before 9.17.

