← Back to CVE Explorer

CVE-2026-116246

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

To pass a server's password to psql and to the utilities pgAdmin 4 runs as background processes, the server manager wrote it into pgAdmin's own process environment: as PGPASSWORD for the PSQL tool, and under a per-process variable for a utility. Nothing removed it afterwards. pgAdmin's environment is shared by every user's requests and copied into every process it starts, so in server mode another user's later PSQL session or utility inherited the password, and libpq used PGPASSWORD for any connection made without a password of its own, letting one user connect with another user's saved password. The fix puts the password only into the environment built for the process that needs it and starts psql with a copy of pgAdmin's environment instead of the environment itself. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.19.

Severity
HIGH
CVSS score
7.0 (v4.0)
Vulnerability status
Received
Source identifier
f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007
Published
2026-10-30 20:17:04.603000
Last modified
2026-10-30 20:17:04.603000
View original CVE JSON
{
  "id": "CVE-2026-116246",
  "sourceIdentifier": "f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007",
  "published": "2026-10-30T20:17:04.603",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-30T20:17:04.603",
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "To pass a server's password to psql and to the utilities pgAdmin 4 runs as background processes, the server manager wrote it into pgAdmin's own process environment: as PGPASSWORD for the PSQL tool, and under a per-process variable for a utility. Nothing removed it afterwards. pgAdmin's environment is shared by every user's requests and copied into every process it starts, so in server mode another user's later PSQL session or utility inherited the password, and libpq used PGPASSWORD for any connection made without a password of its own, letting one user connect with another user's saved password.\n\nThe fix puts the password only into the environment built for the process that needs it and starts psql with a copy of pgAdmin's environment instead of the environment itself.\n\nThis issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.19."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "pgadmin.org",
          "product": "pgAdmin 4",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "modules": [
            "PSQL Tool",
            "Backup",
            "Restore",
            "Import/Export Data",
            "Maintenance"
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/blob/master/web/pgadmin/utils/driver/psycopg3/server_manager.py",
            "https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/blob/master/web/pgadmin/misc/bgprocess/processes.py",
            "https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/blob/master/web/pgadmin/tools/psql/__init__.py"
          ],
          "repo": "https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "9.19",
              "versionType": "custom",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV40": [
      {
        "source": "f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "4.0",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:L/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",
          "baseScore": 7.0,
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
          "attackRequirements": "PRESENT",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "userInteraction": "PASSIVE",
          "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
          "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
          "subConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "subIntegrityImpact": "LOW",
          "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
          "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "confidentialityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "integrityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "availabilityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedAttackVector": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedAttackComplexity": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedAttackRequirements": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedPrivilegesRequired": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedUserInteraction": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedVulnConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedVulnIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedVulnAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedSubConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedSubIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedSubAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED"
        }
      }
    ],
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N",
          "baseScore": 6.5,
          "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
          "scope": "CHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
          "integrityImpact": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "NONE"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.3,
        "impactScore": 4.7
      }
    ]
  },
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "source": "f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007",
      "type": "Secondary",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-214"
        },
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-526"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/commit/0eefa38f774dce07c1f939d87f2993b36e2313b9",
      "source": "f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/issues/10653",
      "source": "f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007"
    }
  ]
}