dbcve.org
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2025-2291

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.24.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Password can be used past expiry in PgBouncer due to auth_query not taking into account Postgres its VALID UNTIL value, which allows an attacker to log in with an already expired password

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

PgBouncer's auth_query authentication mechanism fails to validate PostgreSQL's password expiration timestamp (VALID UNTIL), allowing users to authenticate with already expired passwords.

MitigationModify the auth_query to include VALID UNTIL validation in its password verification query, or implement password policy controls at the PostgreSQL level; apply any available vendor patches.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0
PgbouncerApplication
Affected:< 1.24.1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 PgBouncer installation
    Check if pgbouncer is installed by running 'which pgbouncer' or 'pgbouncer --version' on the host
    Affected if pgbouncer is installed and running
  2. Determine PgBouncer version
    Run 'pgbouncer --version' and compare the output to the affected range (< 1.24.1)
    Affected if version is lower than 1.24.1
  3. Check if auth_query is enabled
    Inspect the pgbouncer configuration file (typically pgbouncer.ini) and look for the 'auth_query' parameter in the [databases] or [pgbouncer] section
    Affected if auth_query is configured and pointing to a custom query
  4. Examine the auth_query SQL content
    Locate the auth_query definition in pgbouncer.ini and review the SQL query text - look for whether VALID UNTIL (password expiration) validation is included in the query
    Affected if auth_query is used but does not include VALID UNTIL validation in its password verification logic
  5. Identify PostgreSQL users with password expiration
    Connect to the PostgreSQL backend database and run: SELECT usename, valuntil FROM pg_shadow WHERE valuntil IS NOT NULL AND valuntil < now();
    Affected if users exist with expired passwords (valuntil timestamp is in the past) and PgBouncer is using auth_query for authentication

The environment is affected if PgBouncer version is below 1.24.1 AND auth_query is used without VALID UNTIL validation in the password verification query, allowing expired PostgreSQL passwords to still authenticate.

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 1.24.1 or later
Fixed in 1.24.1
Interim mitigation

Modify the auth_query to include VALID UNTIL validation in its password verification query, or implement password policy controls at the PostgreSQL level; apply any available vendor patches.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

PgBouncer 1.24.1 or later

  1. 1. Identify current PgBouncer version by running 'pgbouncer --version'
  2. 2. For source installations: Download PgBouncer 1.24.1 or later from www.pgbouncer.org/downloads
  3. 3. For package managers: Update your package repository and upgrade pgboncer package
  4. 4. For Debian 11: Check if Debian LTS security updates have backported the fix (apt-get update && apt-get install pgbouncer)
  5. 5. After upgrade, restart PgBouncer service to apply changes (systemctl restart pgbouncer or equivalent)
  6. 6. Verify the fix by testing with a PostgreSQL user that has an expired VALID UNTIL password - it should now be rejected

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

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2025-2291 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