pgAdmin 4: Unsafe deserialization (CWE-502) in file-backed session manager leads to remote code execution (pgadmin.org pgAdmin 4)
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.13 % · percentile 3 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- PostgreSQL
- NVD status
- Analyzed
Description
Deserialization of untrusted data (CWE-502) in pgAdmin 4 FileBackedSessionManager. The session manager performed unsafe deserialization of session-file contents (using Python's standard object-serialization module) before performing any HMAC integrity check. Any file dropped into the sessions directory was deserialized unconditionally. An authenticated user with write access to the sessions directory (whether by misconfiguration or in combination with another path-traversal flaw) could plant a crafted serialized payload to achieve operating-system level remote code execution under the pgAdmin process identity. Fix prepends a 64-byte hex SHA-256 HMAC over the session body, computed with SECRET_KEY, and verifies it via hmac.compare_digest before any deserialization. The check is raised (rather than asserted) on empty SECRET_KEY so it is not stripped under -O. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.15.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-502 — Deserialization of Untrusted Data
References
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | PostgreSQL |
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH 7.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N | PostgreSQL |
| CVSS 4.0 | HIGH 7.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/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 | NVD · f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007 (Secondary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | NVD · f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007 (Secondary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | NVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary) |
Advisories
- GHSA-4rhg-h8f2-v4jm — pgAdmin 4 has deserialization of untrusted data in its FileBackedSessionManager
- PYSEC-2026-2865 — pgAdmin 4 has deserialization of untrusted data in its FileBackedSessionManager
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-29086
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-7818
Affected configurations (NVD CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:pgadmin:pgadmin_4:*:*:*:*:*:postgresql:*:*< 9.15
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| pgadmin.org · pgAdmin 4 | affected 0 < 9.15 |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |