Read the docs
TI-2026-59383 Aliases CVE-2026-86863GHSA-rc4w-fwh9-f5j9

pgAdmin 4: Authentication bypass via a client-controlled identity header in Webserver authentication mode

Priority MEDIUM 49CWE-290Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-290.

Summary

pgAdmin 4's Webserver authentication source is intended to accept an identity asserted by the web server or reverse proxy in front of pgAdmin, delivered through the WSGI/CGI environment. WebserverAuthentication.get_user() read config.WEBSERVER_REMOTE_USER from request.environ and, when that returned nothing, fell back to reading the same name directly from the inbound HTTP request headers via request.headers.get(). An inbound HTTP header is written by whoever sends the request, so any client able to reach pgAdmin could supply that header itself and be authenticated as any username it named, including an existing Administrator, without presenting a password or any other credential. The environment lookup could also be satisfied by a client-supplied header whenever WEBSERVER_REMOTE_USER was configured to an HTTP_-prefixed or hyphenated name such as HTTP_X_FORWARDED_USER or X-Forwarded-User, since WSGI servers place inbound headers into the environment under exactly those names. Deployments are affected only when 'webserver' is enabled in AUTHENTICATION_SOURCES. The fix distinguishes a genuine CGI/WSGI variable from a header-derived one and implicitly trusts only the former. A header-asserted identity is now accepted only when the operator explicitly opts in via WEBSERVER_REMOTE_USER_FROM_HEADER, the request arrives from a peer listed in WEBSERVER_TRUSTED_PROXIES, and, when configured, a shared secret supplied in WEBSERVER_SHARED_SECRET_HEADER matches WEBSERVER_SHARED_SECRET under a constant-time comparison. The trusted-peer check deliberately reads the real socket peer address rather than request.remote_addr, because ProxyFix rewrites the latter from the client-controlled X-Forwarded-For header and would otherwise allow an attacker to claim to be the trusted proxy. As defence in depth, login() now refuses any account whose auth_source is not 'webserver', so a misconfigured trust gate cannot be used to assume an internal or LDAP account. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: from 6.2 before 9.18.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00583 48th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed pgAdmin 4 (pgadmin.org): 9.18

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
Yes
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
pgadmin.orgpgAdmin 46.2 to before 9.189.18Patch availableCNA
  • pgAdmin 4 Vendorpgadmin.org Affected 6.2 to before 9.18 Fixed in 9.18 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:pgadmin:pgadmin_4:*:*:*:*:*:postgresql:*:*6.2 to before 9.18Vulnerablepgadmin.org
  • cpe:2.3:a:pgadmin:pgadmin_4:*:*:*:*:*:postgresql:*:* Versions 6.2 to before 9.18 Vulnerable ·pgadmin.org

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA pgAdmin 4 (pgadmin.org) Fixed in 9.18

Fixed in the same release

Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.

  • Release ·

    pgadmin.org pgAdmin 4 9.18

    4 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 2 MEDIUM, 2 LOW

    Other records, highest priority first

    • TI-2026-59384 pgAdmin 4: Argument and connection-string injection via the database field in the Backup toolPriority MEDIUM 40
    • TI-2026-59382 pgAdmin 4: Connection-string injection via the database field in the Restore and Maintenance toolsPriority LOW 31
    • TI-2026-59381 pgAdmin 4: File Manager save_file writes through a symbolic link planted after the containment checkPriority LOW 27

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat's page for this CVE →

Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-86863
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-rc4w-fwh9-f5j9

References

  • TI-2024-01901 Unsafe Deserialisation and Remote Code Execution by an Authenticated user in pgAdmin 4 CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
  • TI-2024-02918 Remote Code Execution Vulnerability through the validate binary path API in pgAdmin 4 CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2022-03867 Code injection in pgadmin4 CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2026-06875 pgAdmin 4: Cross-user data access and shared-server privilege escalation in server mode CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.4
  • TI-2025-02572 pgAdmin 4: Remote Code Execution in Query Tool and Cloud Deployment CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
  • TI-2023-00228 Path traversal in pgadmin CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
See all 56 →

Sources