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Integer OverflowWeakness · CWE-190

CVE-2025-12818

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Integer wraparound in multiple PostgreSQL libpq client library functions allows an application input provider or network peer to cause libpq to undersize an allocation and write out-of-bounds by hundreds of megabytes. This results in a segmentation fault for the application using libpq. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.1, 17.7, 16.11, 15.15, 14.20, and 13.23 are affected.

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

Integer wraparound in multiple libpq functions causes undersized memory allocations, leading to out-of-bounds writes of hundreds of megabytes and resulting in application segmentation faults. An attacker controlling application input or acting as a network peer can trigger this condition.

MitigationUpgrade PostgreSQL client libraries to version 18.1, 17.7, 16.11, 15.15, 14.20, 13.23 or later. Test applications after upgrade to ensure compatibility.

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

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 installed libpq version
    Run 'psql --version' for command-line tools, or check the shared library file: 'ls -la /usr/lib/*/libpq.so*' or 'find /usr -name "libpq*" -type f' on Linux; on Windows check the PostgreSQL bin directory for libpq.dll
    Affected if version is below 18.1, 17.7, 16.11, 15.15, 14.20, or 13.23 depending on your major version line
  2. Identify libpq version in use by your application
    For compiled applications: 'ldd your_application_binary | grep libpq' or 'nm your_application_binary | grep PQ' to see if it links against libpq functions. For interpreted languages: check imports or requires for psycopg, pg, or libpq bindings
    Affected if application links to a vulnerable libpq version
  3. Determine if application accepts network input or external data
    Review application architecture: check if it connects to PostgreSQL databases over the network, accepts user queries that flow to the database, or processes remote data that could be crafted to trigger the integer wraparound in libpq functions
    Affected if application uses libpq to connect to databases with untrusted input or remote connections
  4. Check PostgreSQL client library package version
    On RHEL/CentOS: 'rpm -qa | grep -i libpq'. On Debian/Ubuntu: 'dpkg -l | grep -i libpq'. On macOS with Homebrew: 'brew list postgresql' and check version. On Windows: check installed PostgreSQL version in Programs and Features
    Affected if installed package version is older than the fixed versions (18.1, 17.7, 16.11, 15.15, 14.20, 13.23)

You are affected if your application uses a libpq version older than 18.1/17.7/16.11/15.15/14.20/13.23 and accepts network input or user-controlled data that can reach database query functions.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade PostgreSQL client libraries to version 18.1, 17.7, 16.11, 15.15, 14.20, 13.23 or later. Test applications after upgrade to ensure compatibility.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to PostgreSQL 13.23, 14.20, 15.15, 16.11, 17.7, or 18.1 (or later in their respective branches)

  1. Identify the current PostgreSQL libpq version by checking your PostgreSQL client library version (psql --version or looking at libpq package)
  2. Determine which major version branch you are on (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, or 18)
  3. For PostgreSQL 13.x users: upgrade to version 13.23 or later
  4. For PostgreSQL 14.x users: upgrade to version 14.20 or later
  5. For PostgreSQL 15.x users: upgrade to version 15.15 or later
  6. For PostgreSQL 16.x users: upgrade to version 16.11 or later
  7. For PostgreSQL 17.x users: upgrade to version 17.7 or later
  8. For PostgreSQL 18.x users: upgrade to version 18.1 or later
Caveat Point releases within the same major version are generally safe; major version upgrades (e.g., 13 to 18) may require schema dumps and compatibility testing

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,420
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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-2025-12818 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
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