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PostgreSQLDatabase / datastore

CVE-2026-18408

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Developing Published 2026-08-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.24 / 15.19 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 8 days old

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
Untrusted data inclusion in pg_dump in PostgreSQL allows a malicious superuser of the origin server to inject arbitrary code for restore-time execution as the client operating system account running psql to restore the dump, via psql \restrict meta-command input expansion. The fix for CVE-2025-8714 introduced \restrict and \unrestrict to block this attack, but \unrestrict itself was sufficient for an attack. pg_dumpall is also affected. pg_restore is affected when used to generate a plain-format dump. Non-core use of \restrict would be affected, but we've not identified non-core use. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.5, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, and 14.24 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 · low confidence
Developing — this CVE was published recently and its authoritative NVD entry is still being established, so we're holding a technical summary until the source data settles rather than publish something unreliable. Re-checking after 2026-08-27.

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:>= 14.0, < 14.24>= 15.0, < 15.19>= 16.0, < 16.15>= 17.0, < 17.11>= 18.0, < 18.5

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 14.24 / 15.19 / 16.15 or later
Fixed in 14.2415.1916.15
Recommended fix High confidence

PostgreSQL 18.5, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, or 14.24 (or later)

  1. 1. Identify the current PostgreSQL version by running: psql --version or SELECT version();
  2. 2. Determine which major version branch you are currently on (14, 15, 16, 17, or 18)
  3. 3. Plan the upgrade path: upgrade to PostgreSQL 18.5, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, or 14.24 (or later)
  4. 4. Create a full backup of all databases before upgrading
  5. 5. Follow the PostgreSQL upgrade documentation for your operating system (pg_upgrade or dump/restore method)
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the new version: psql --version
  7. 7. Test that pg_dump, pg_dumpall, and pg_restore work correctly with the new version
Caveat Major version upgrades may require application testing; review PostgreSQL release notes for any backward-incompatible changes in the target version

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $4,900. Get the upgrade done

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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-2026-18408 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
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