The vulnerability exists in PostgreSQL's logical replication control command ALTER SUBSCRIPTION ... REFRESH PUBLICATION. A subscriber who can create a table in the subscription has the ability to inject arbitrary SQL that executes with the publication’s credentials. Once the REFRESH PUBLICATION command runs, the malicious payload is executed. This flaw is a classic SQL injection (CWE‑89) that compromises confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the replicated data by allowing an attacker to run any SQL commands on the publisher side.

Affected versions are PostgreSQL major releases 16, 17, and 18; any minor release earlier than 16.14, 17.10, or 18.4, respectively, is vulnerable. Versions prior to 16 are not affected. Only PostgreSQL itself is listed as the vendor/product.

The CVSS score of 3.7 indicates low overall severity, and the EPSS score is unavailable, implying that its probability of exploitation is not well established but not ruled out. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV. Based on the described attack path, it is likely that an attacker who is authorized to create tables for a subscription could trigger the flaw during a refresh, which may be scheduled automatically or manually. The attack requires only subscription-level permissions and does not require elevated system privileges, making it potentially exploitable in environments where subscription table creation is delegated.