Description
SQL injection in pgAdmin 4 across every dialog template that renders ``COMMENT ON ... IS '<description>'`` for a user-supplied description field. The Jinja templates for Domains (and their constraints), Foreign Tables, Languages, and Event Triggers, plus the Views OID-lookup query, interpolated the description directly inside a single-quoted SQL literal -- ``'{{ data.description }}'`` -- instead of passing it through the ``qtLiteral`` escape filter. An authenticated pgAdmin user with permission to create or alter the affected object types could submit a description containing an apostrophe, break out of the literal and chain arbitrary SQL. The injected SQL runs under the PostgreSQL role the user is already authenticated as; for a connected role with ``COPY ... TO/FROM PROGRAM`` (typically PostgreSQL superuser), this chains to OS command execution on the PostgreSQL host. The defect does not cross a privilege boundary -- the user already has direct SQL access to that role through pgAdmin's Query Tool -- so the attacker gains no capability beyond what their database role already grants. The marginal impact captures bypass of any application-layer Query Tool gating an operator may have configured.

The defect was originally reported against the Domain Dialog ``description`` field; a code-wide audit identified sixteen sites of the same pattern across the templates listed above. The same review also surfaced ten related sinks in the pgstattuple/pgstatindex stats templates -- ``pgstattuple('{{schema}}.{{table}}')`` and the matching pgstatindex shape -- where ``qtIdent`` escapes embedded double quotes inside the identifier but not apostrophes, so a user with CREATE privilege on a schema could plant a table or index named ``foo'bar`` and a later stats viewer would render an unbalanced literal.

Fix is layered:

1. Sites: replace every ``'{{ x.description }}'`` with ``{{ x.description|qtLiteral(conn) }}`` (no surrounding quotes -- the filter wraps the value in escaped quotes itself). Plumb ``conn=self.conn`` through every ``render_template`` call that loads one of these templates. Also corrects a ``{ % elif`` Jinja typo in the foreign-table schema diff (dead branch). Rewrite the ten pgstattuple/pgstatindex stats sites to address the relation via OID + ``::oid::regclass`` cast (e.g. ``pgstattuple({{ tid }}::oid::regclass)``), eliminating the embedded literal-call form entirely so that bug-class can no longer recur there.

2. Driver hardening: ``qtLiteral`` (in ``utils/driver/psycopg3/__init__.py``) used to silently return the raw unescaped value when its ``conn`` argument was falsy. It now raises ``ValueError`` -- surfacing the entire bug class going forward. The change immediately uncovered eight latent plumbing bugs (in ``schemas/__init__.py``, ``schemas/functions/__init__.py``, ``schemas/tables/utils.py``, ``foreign_servers/__init__.py``, and seven sites in ``roles/__init__.py``) -- all fixed as part of this patch. The inner ``except`` block that swallowed adapter-level failures and returned the raw value is also removed, so unadaptable inputs raise instead of leaking unescaped values.

3. Regression tests: a per-template behavioural test renders each previously-vulnerable template with an apostrophe-injection payload and asserts the escaped fragment is present and the vulnerable fragment absent; a lint test walks every ``*.sql`` template flagging any ``'{{ ... }}'`` single-quote-wrapped interpolation against an explicit allowlist; unit tests cover the new qtLiteral fail-fast and inner-except raise paths.

This issue affects pgAdmin 4: from 1.0 before 9.16.
Published: 2026-06-18
Score: 8.7 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Impact

pgAdmin 4 renders user‑supplied description text inside a single‑quoted SQL literal without proper escaping, creating a classic SQL injection surface. An authenticated user who can create or alter objects such as Domains, Foreign Tables, Languages, Event Triggers, or Views can supply a description containing an apostrophe to break out of the literal and inject arbitrary SQL statements. The injected statements run under the PostgreSQL role that the user already holds, meaning the attacker does not gain additional database privileges beyond those already granted by the role. However, if that role also has privileges such as COPY … TO/FROM PROGRAM, the injection can lead directly to operating‑system command execution on the database host. Because the vulnerability does not cross a privilege boundary it is an application‑level flaw, but the impact can be severe for privileged roles.

Affected Systems

Affected systems are pgAdmin 4 versions 1.0 through 9.15 inclusive. All dialog templates that render the statement "COMMENT ON … IS '<description>'" are impacted, including Domain, Foreign Table, Language, Event Trigger, and View dialogs. Additional sites were found in statistics templates for pgstattuple and pgstatindex that also interpolate user data without proper escaping.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 8.7 indicates high severity. The EPSS score is not currently available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, suggesting no confirmed exploitation yet. The attack vector requires an authenticated pgAdmin user with the ability to create or alter the affected object types. In practice the likelihood of exploitation depends on the datastore’s role configuration: users with superuser status or COPY TO/FROM PROGRAM privileges will confer the threat of OS command execution, while ordinary users face limited impact confined to the database role's existing authority.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on June 19, 2026 at 01:51 UTC.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Update pgAdmin 4 to version 9.16 or any later release that includes the qtLiteral escape filter and template corrections.
  • Revoke the CREATE privilege and COPY TO/FROM PROGRAM rights from users who are not required to have them, limiting the scope of potential injection impact.
  • Run a database audit to confirm that no lingering template sites remain that interpolate unescaped user input, and consider enabling logging for unexpected SQL injection attempts.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on June 19, 2026 at 01:51 UTC.

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History

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description SQL injection in pgAdmin 4 across every dialog template that renders ``COMMENT ON ... IS '<description>'`` for a user-supplied description field. The Jinja templates for Domains (and their constraints), Foreign Tables, Languages, and Event Triggers, plus the Views OID-lookup query, interpolated the description directly inside a single-quoted SQL literal -- ``'{{ data.description }}'`` -- instead of passing it through the ``qtLiteral`` escape filter. An authenticated pgAdmin user with permission to create or alter the affected object types could submit a description containing an apostrophe, break out of the literal and chain arbitrary SQL. The injected SQL runs under the PostgreSQL role the user is already authenticated as; for a connected role with ``COPY ... TO/FROM PROGRAM`` (typically PostgreSQL superuser), this chains to OS command execution on the PostgreSQL host. The defect does not cross a privilege boundary -- the user already has direct SQL access to that role through pgAdmin's Query Tool -- so the attacker gains no capability beyond what their database role already grants. The marginal impact captures bypass of any application-layer Query Tool gating an operator may have configured. The defect was originally reported against the Domain Dialog ``description`` field; a code-wide audit identified sixteen sites of the same pattern across the templates listed above. The same review also surfaced ten related sinks in the pgstattuple/pgstatindex stats templates -- ``pgstattuple('{{schema}}.{{table}}')`` and the matching pgstatindex shape -- where ``qtIdent`` escapes embedded double quotes inside the identifier but not apostrophes, so a user with CREATE privilege on a schema could plant a table or index named ``foo'bar`` and a later stats viewer would render an unbalanced literal. Fix is layered: 1. Sites: replace every ``'{{ x.description }}'`` with ``{{ x.description|qtLiteral(conn) }}`` (no surrounding quotes -- the filter wraps the value in escaped quotes itself). Plumb ``conn=self.conn`` through every ``render_template`` call that loads one of these templates. Also corrects a ``{ % elif`` Jinja typo in the foreign-table schema diff (dead branch). Rewrite the ten pgstattuple/pgstatindex stats sites to address the relation via OID + ``::oid::regclass`` cast (e.g. ``pgstattuple({{ tid }}::oid::regclass)``), eliminating the embedded literal-call form entirely so that bug-class can no longer recur there. 2. Driver hardening: ``qtLiteral`` (in ``utils/driver/psycopg3/__init__.py``) used to silently return the raw unescaped value when its ``conn`` argument was falsy. It now raises ``ValueError`` -- surfacing the entire bug class going forward. The change immediately uncovered eight latent plumbing bugs (in ``schemas/__init__.py``, ``schemas/functions/__init__.py``, ``schemas/tables/utils.py``, ``foreign_servers/__init__.py``, and seven sites in ``roles/__init__.py``) -- all fixed as part of this patch. The inner ``except`` block that swallowed adapter-level failures and returned the raw value is also removed, so unadaptable inputs raise instead of leaking unescaped values. 3. Regression tests: a per-template behavioural test renders each previously-vulnerable template with an apostrophe-injection payload and asserts the escaped fragment is present and the vulnerable fragment absent; a lint test walks every ``*.sql`` template flagging any ``'{{ ... }}'`` single-quote-wrapped interpolation against an explicit allowlist; unit tests cover the new qtLiteral fail-fast and inner-except raise paths. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: from 1.0 before 9.16.
Title pgAdmin 4: SQL injection in COMMENT ON ... IS '<description>' rendering across dialog templates
Weaknesses CWE-116
CWE-89
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Subscriptions

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: PostgreSQL

Published:

Updated: 2026-06-18T23:37:16.202Z

Reserved: 2026-06-11T20:40:05.751Z

Link: CVE-2026-12044

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-06-19T02:00:10Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-116

    Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output

  • CWE-89

    Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')