PostgreSQL up to 18.4 pgcrypto cleartext storage

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in PostgreSQL up to 14.23/15.18/16.14/17.10/18.4. Affected by this issue is the function pgp_sym_encrypt/pgp_sym_decrypt/pgp_pub_encrypt/pgp_pub_decrypt/pgp_sym_encrypt_bytea/pgp_sym_decrypt_bytea/pgp_pub_encrypt_bytea/pgp_pub_decrypt_bytea of the component pgcrypto. The manipulation results in cleartext storage. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-14663. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in PostgreSQL up to 14.23/15.18/16.14/17.10/18.4. Affected is the function pgp_sym_encrypt/pgp_sym_decrypt/pgp_pub_encrypt/pgp_pub_decrypt/pgp_sym_encrypt_bytea/pgp_sym_decrypt_bytea/pgp_pub_encrypt_bytea/pgp_pub_decrypt_bytea of the component pgcrypto. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a cleartext storage vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-312. The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality. CVE summarizes:

Cleartext storage in PostgreSQL pgcrypto disabled ciphers allows a user to recover cleartext, via direct observation of the faulty ciphertext. The OpenSSL version and OpenSSL configuration determine the disabled ciphers. If the application accepts encrypted data as input, decryption will succeed even with the wrong key. This in turn loses the modest protection from the Modification Detection Code (MDC). Affected functions are pgp_sym_encrypt, pgp_sym_decrypt, pgp_pub_encrypt, pgp_pub_decrypt, pgp_sym_encrypt_bytea, pgp_sym_decrypt_bytea, pgp_pub_encrypt_bytea, and pgp_pub_decrypt_bytea. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.5, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, and 14.24 are affected.

The advisory is shared for download at postgresql.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-14663 since 07/03/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1555.

Upgrading to version 14.24, 15.19, 16.15, 17.11 or 18.5 eliminates this vulnerability.

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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
• 14.21
• 14.22
• 14.23
• 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
• 15.16
• 15.17
• 15.18
• 16.0
• 16.1
• 16.2
• 16.3
• 16.4
• 16.5
• 16.6
• 16.7
• 16.8
• 16.9
• 16.10
• 16.11
• 16.12
• 16.13
• 16.14
• 17.0
• 17.1
• 17.2
• 17.3
• 17.4
• 17.5
• 17.6
• 17.7
• 17.8
• 17.9
• 17.10
• 18.0
• 18.1
• 18.2
• 18.3
• 18.4

License

• open-source

Website

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

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