PostgreSQL up to 18.1 pgcrypto heap-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in PostgreSQL up to 14.20/15.15/16.11/17.7/18.1. Impacted is an unknown function of the component pgcrypto. The manipulation results in heap-based overflow. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-2005. The attack may be performed from remote. There is no available exploit. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in PostgreSQL up to 14.20/15.15/16.11/17.7/18.1. It has been classified as critical. Affected is an unknown part of the component pgcrypto. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-122. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Heap buffer overflow in PostgreSQL pgcrypto allows a ciphertext provider to execute arbitrary code as the operating system user running the database. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.2, 17.8, 16.12, 15.16, and 14.21 are affected.

The advisory is shared for download at postgresql.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-2005 since 02/05/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 298907 (Debian dsa-6132 : libecpg-compat3 - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 14.21, 15.16, 16.12, 17.8 or 18.2 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (298907) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-0409). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source PostgreSQL

Productinfo

Type

• Database Software

Name

• PostgreSQL

Version

• 14.0
• 14.1
• 14.2
• 14.3
• 14.4
• 14.5
• 14.6
• 14.7
• 14.8
• 14.9
• 14.10
• 14.11
• 14.12
• 14.13
• 14.14
• 14.15
• 14.16
• 14.17
• 14.18
• 14.19
• 14.20
• 15.0
• 15.1
• 15.2
• 15.3
• 15.4
• 15.5
• 15.6
• 15.7
• 15.8
• 15.9
• 15.10
• 15.11
• 15.12
• 15.13
• 15.14
• 15.15
• 16.0
• 16.1
• 16.2
• 16.3
• 16.4
• 16.5
• 16.6
• 16.7
• 16.8
• 16.9
• 16.10
• 16.11
• 17.0
• 17.1
• 17.2
• 17.3
• 17.4
• 17.5
• 17.6
• 17.7
• 18.0
• 18.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://www.postgresql.org/

CPE 2.3info

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VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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