Credential disclosure via database connection-string injection
Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026
Connection-string injection in pgAdmin 4 before 9.18 allows remote authenticated users to expose database passwords via Restore or Maintenance. These tools pass the client-supplied database field as --dbname to pg_restore or psql; libpq interprets values containing an equals sign as connection parameters, overriding the intended endpoint and sending the decrypted PGPASSWORD credential to an attacker-selected server. Exploitation requires a connected server and tools_restore or tools_maintenance permission, granted by the default User role; it also enables outbound connections to internal addresses but does not itself alter data or interrupt pgAdmin.
Summary
What happened
Connection-string injection in pgAdmin 4 before 9.18 allows remote authenticated users to expose database passwords via Restore or Maintenance. These tools pass the client-supplied database field as --dbname to pg_restore or psql; libpq interprets values containing an equals sign as connection parameters, overriding the intended endpoint and sending the decrypted PGPASSWORD credential to an attacker-selected server. Exploitation requires a connected server and tools_restore or tools_maintenance permission, granted by the default User role; it also enables outbound connections to internal addresses but does not itself alter data or interrupt pgAdmin.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-86862
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 17, 2026
- Vendor
- pgAdmin Development Team
- Product
- pgAdmin 4
- Classifications
- CWE-522, CWE-918, CWE-88, T1187
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 17, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <9.18
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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