Link race in pgAdmin 4 lets file access escape storage directory
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
pgAdmin 4 before 9.19 in server mode checks a user-supplied path in the storage directory, then opens the file later by name. A symbolic link, hard link or FIFO swapped in between the check and the open redirects reads and writes outside the storage directory (CWE-367). A local user with write access to the storage backend, as a different operating system account, can write, overwrite or read files as the pgAdmin account by winning the race.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
Description from the CNA
In server mode pgAdmin 4 validates a path a user gives for a file in their storage directory with check_access_permission() and then opened it by name. Several places opened it with a plain open() or handed the path to a utility that opened it later: the servers.json export and import and the import file listing, and the files given to pg_dump, pg_dumpall, pg_restore and psql by Backup, Restore and Import/Export Data. A symbolic link swapped in at the file or at any parent directory between the check and the open redirected the operation outside the storage directory, so a file could be written, overwritten or read, or loaded into a table, as the operating-system account running pgAdmin. A hard link to an outside file, which O_NOFOLLOW does not detect, and a FIFO, which could hang a request, had the same effect. CVE-2026-86861 fixed this for the File Manager's save_file; these were the remaining paths. Exploitation requires creating such a link or FIFO inside the user's storage directory. pgAdmin offers no way to do so, and the per-user storage directories belong to the pgAdmin account, so this requires write access to the storage backend as a different operating-system user, for example a shared or network-mounted storage directory, and winning the race. The fix opens each file by walking down from the storage directory one component at a time with O_NOFOLLOW, accepting only a regular file with one link, and passes the utilities the open descriptor (/dev/fd/N) on Linux. Error messages no longer include the server path. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.19.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pgadmin.org | pgAdmin 4 | before 9.19 | 9.19 | Patch available | CNA |
- pgAdmin 4 Vendorpgadmin.org Affected before 9.19 Fixed in 9.19 Patch available CNA
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:pgadmin:pgadmin_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | pgadmin.org |
- cpe:2.3:a:pgadmin:pgadmin_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·pgadmin.org
Remediation
Upgrade pgAdmin 4 to version 9.19 or later.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
- Fix · CNA pgAdmin 4 (pgadmin.org) Fixed in 9.19
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
pgadmin.org pgAdmin 4 9.19
15 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 3 MEDIUM, 12 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-83355 Command execution via backslash bypass in pgAdmin 4 query exportPriority MEDIUM 42
- TI-2026-83352 Failed login limit bypass in pgAdmin 4 allows unlimited password guessingPriority MEDIUM 42
- TI-2026-83353 pgAdmin 4 LDAP or Kerberos login opens another account by usernamePriority MEDIUM 41
Timeline
- 2026-10-30 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-116250
- 2026-10-30 Alias added: GHSA-2wvp-3w8r-39fh
- 2026-11-01 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 3
More pgadmin.org vulnerabilities
- 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-116250 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-116250 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-2wvp-3w8r-39fh · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences