PgbouncerApplication

CVE-2026-6665

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.25.2 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
The SCRAM code in PgBouncer before 1.25.2 did not check the return value of strlcat() correctly when building the contents of the SCRAM client-final-message. A malicious backend that sends a SCRAM server-final-message with a long nonce can trigger a stack overflow.

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 SCRAM authentication implementation fails to properly check the return value of strlcat() when constructing the SCRAM client-final-message. A malicious backend can send a specially crafted server-final-message containing an oversized nonce, causing a stack-based buffer overflow with potential remote code execution implications.

MitigationUpgrade PgBouncer to version 1.25.2 or later to obtain the patched SCRAM code. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict database connections to trusted backends only to mitigate malicious server attacks.

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
PgbouncerApplication
Affected:< 1.25.2

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 and version
    Run 'pgbouncer --version' or check the installed package (e.g., 'dpkg -l pgbouncer', 'rpm -q pgbouncer', or 'pip show pgbouncer')
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 1.25.2
  2. Verify SCRAM authentication is enabled
    Inspect the pgbouncer.ini configuration file and look for 'auth_type' setting. Common locations: /etc/pgbouncer/pgbouncer.ini or /etc/pgbouncer.ini
    Affected if auth_type is set to 'scram' or 'scram-sha-256' (SCRAM-based authentication)
  3. Confirm PgBouncer connects to backend databases
    Check pgbouncer.ini for 'database' or 'pgbouncer' sections that define backend connections, or review the userlist file for SCRAM-authenticated users
    Affected if PgBouncer is configured to connect to PostgreSQL backends using SCRAM authentication

You are affected if PgBouncer version is below 1.25.2 AND SCRAM authentication is enabled for backend connections, as the stack overflow occurs in the SCRAM authentication code path when processing server-final-message from backends.

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 1.25.2 or later
Fixed in 1.25.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade PgBouncer to version 1.25.2 or later to obtain the patched SCRAM code. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict database connections to trusted backends only to mitigate malicious server attacks.

Recommended fix High confidence

PgBouncer 1.25.2

  1. 1. Back up your current PgBouncer configuration and data files
  2. 2. Download PgBouncer version 1.25.2 or later from the official source (www.pgbouncer.org)
  3. 3. Install the new version following standard PgBouncer installation procedures
  4. 4. Restore your configuration files
  5. 5. Start PgBouncer and verify it is running correctly
  6. 6. Test that client connections and SCRAM authentication work as expected
Caveat Check the 1.25.2 release notes for any configuration or behavioral changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Pgbouncer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2026-6665 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