dbcve.org
PostgreSQLDatabase / datastore

CVE-2017-15099

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-11-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
INSERT ... ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE commands in PostgreSQL 10.x before 10.1, 9.6.x before 9.6.6, and 9.5.x before 9.5.10 disclose table contents that the invoker lacks privilege to read. These exploits affect only tables where the attacker lacks full read access but has both INSERT and UPDATE privileges. Exploits bypass row level security policies and lack of SELECT privilege.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

PostgreSQL privilege escalation vulnerability where INSERT ... ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE (UPSERT) commands disclose table contents that the user lacks read privilege. Attackers with INSERT and UPDATE privileges but lacking SELECT can bypass row-level security policies to read unauthorized data.

MitigationUpgrade PostgreSQL to version 10.1, 9.6.6, 9.5.10 or later. Review user permissions on affected tables and ensure row-level security policies function correctly post-patch.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
PostgreSQLDatabase / datastore
Affected:= 9.5= 9.5.1= 9.5.2= 9.5.3= 9.5.4= 9.5.5= 9.5.6= 9.5.7= 9.5.8= 9.5.9= 9.6= 9.6.1
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check PostgreSQL version
    Run 'psql -V' or connect to the database and execute 'SELECT version();' to obtain the server version number
    Affected if The installed version is 9.5.x (any version from 9.5 to 9.5.9) or 9.6.x (9.6 or 9.6.1)
  2. Identify tables with row-level security enabled
    Query the pg_tables catalog: SELECT schemaname, tablename FROM pg_tables WHERE schemaname NOT IN ('pg_catalog', 'information_schema'); then for each table run: SELECT relname, relrowsecurity FROM pg_class WHERE relname = 'tablename';
    Affected if Any table in the database has relrowsecurity set to true
  3. Check for UPSERT usage in the application
    Review application code, SQL scripts, or database logs for queries containing 'ON CONFLICT' or 'DO UPDATE' clauses, which implement the UPSERT functionality
    Affected if The application or scripts use INSERT ... ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE statements on tables with RLS enabled
  4. Audit user permissions on RLS-protected tables
    Query information_schema.table_privileges: SELECT grantee, table_name, privilege_type FROM information_schema.table_privileges WHERE table_name IN (SELECT tablename FROM pg_tables WHERE schemaname = 'your_schema') AND privilege_type IN ('INSERT', 'UPDATE', 'SELECT');
    Affected if Any user has both INSERT and UPDATE privileges but lacks SELECT privilege on a table with row-level security enabled

The environment is affected if running PostgreSQL 9.5.x through 9.5.9 or 9.6/9.6.1, with row-level security policies on tables that are accessed via UPSERT (ON CONFLICT) operations, and where untrusted users have INSERT+UPDATE but not SELECT permissions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade PostgreSQL to version 10.1, 9.6.6, 9.5.10 or later. Review user permissions on affected tables and ensure row-level security policies function correctly post-patch.

Fix this in PostgreSQL Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-15099 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data