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PostgreSQLDatabase / datastore

CVE-2022-2625

HIGH · 8.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.22 / 11.17 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable

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
A vulnerability was found in PostgreSQL. This attack requires permission to create non-temporary objects in at least one schema, the ability to lure or wait for an administrator to create or update an affected extension in that schema, and the ability to lure or wait for a victim to use the object targeted in CREATE OR REPLACE or CREATE IF NOT EXISTS. Given all three prerequisites, this flaw allows an attacker to run arbitrary code as the victim role, which may be a superuser.

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 · moderate confidence

This is a PostgreSQL privilege escalation vulnerability where an attacker with schema object creation permissions can manipulate objects that get replaced during extension updates. By creating a malicious object and waiting for an admin to update an extension or for a victim to use CREATE OR REPLACE/CREATE IF NOT EXISTS, the attacker can execute arbitrary code with the victim role's privileges, potentially including superuser.

MitigationRestrict schema creation permissions to trusted users only, carefully control who can create or update extensions, avoid granting unnecessary privileges, and minimize the number of superuser accounts.

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:>= 10.0, < 10.22>= 11.0, < 11.17>= 12.0, < 12.12>= 13.0, < 13.8>= 14.0, < 14.5= 15
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 36
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0= 8.0= 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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Identify the installed PostgreSQL version
    Run 'psql -c "SELECT version();"' or check the package manager (rpm -qa | grep postgres, dpkg -l | grep postgres)
    Affected if The version falls within one of these ranges: 10.0-10.21, 11.0-11.16, 12.0-12.11, 13.0-13.7, 14.0-14.4, or 15.0
  2. Identify users with schema creation privileges
    Query pg_roles: 'SELECT rolname, rolcreate FROM pg_roles WHERE rolcreate = true;' or check for users with CREATE permission on public schema
    Affected if Any non-superuser role has schema creation permissions and could potentially exploit this flaw
  3. Identify extensions using CREATE OR REPLACE
    Query pg_extension: 'SELECT extname, extversion, extrelocatable FROM pg_extension;' Review any extension update scripts in your environment
    Affected if Extensions that support CREATE OR REPLACE are present and could be manipulated during updates
  4. Check for untrusted extensions in use
    Review extensions loaded in databases: 'SELECT * FROM pg_extension;' and verify their sources
    Affected if Extensions from untrusted sources or custom extensions are installed that could be replaced
  5. Identify superuser roles in the database
    Query: 'SELECT rolname FROM pg_roles WHERE rolsuper = true;'
    Affected if Superuser accounts exist and could be targeted if an attacker gains schema creation rights

You are affected if your PostgreSQL version is in the vulnerable range AND untrusted users have schema creation permissions that could be leveraged to manipulate extension objects during updates.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.22 / 11.17 / 12.12 or later
Fixed in 10.2211.1712.12
Interim mitigation

Restrict schema creation permissions to trusted users only, carefully control who can create or update extensions, avoid granting unnecessary privileges, and minimize the number of superuser accounts.

Recommended fix High confidence

PostgreSQL 10.22, 11.17, 12.12, or 13.8 (depending on your major version)

  1. 1. Back up all PostgreSQL databases using pg_dumpall or your preferred backup method
  2. 2. Stop the PostgreSQL service (e.g., systemctl stop postgresql or pg_ctl stop)
  3. 3. Update PostgreSQL packages using your system's package manager (e.g., dnf update postgresql, apt update postgresql, or yum update postgresql)
  4. 4. If using a Fedora or Enterprise Linux system, ensure you update to the corrected package versions that include the fix
  5. 5. Start the PostgreSQL service (e.g., systemctl start postgresql or pg_ctl start)
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the PostgreSQL version (SELECT version();)
Caveat Minor version upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes; test in staging first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in PostgreSQL Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,870
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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-2022-2625 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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