When the server is configured to use trust authentication with a clientcert requirement or to use cert authentication, a man-in-the-middle attacker can inject arbitrary SQL queries when a connection is first established, despite the use of SSL certificate verification and encryption.

An information leak was discovered in postgresql in versions before 13.2, before 12.6 and before 11.11. A user having UPDATE permission but not SELECT permission to a particular column could craft queries which, under some circumstances, might disclose values from that column in error messages. An attacker could use this flaw to obtain information stored in a column they are allowed to write but not read.

A flaw was found in PostgreSQL versions before 13.1, before 12.5, before 11.10, before 10.15, before 9.6.20 and before 9.5.24. An attacker having permission to create non-temporary objects in at least one schema can execute arbitrary SQL functions under the identity of a superuser. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

A flaw was found in PostgreSQL versions before 13.1, before 12.5, before 11.10, before 10.15, before 9.6.20 and before 9.5.24. If a client application that creates additional database connections only reuses the basic connection parameters while dropping security-relevant parameters, an opportunity for a man-in-the-middle attack, or the ability to observe clear-text transmissions, could exist. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

The Windows installer for PostgreSQL 9.5 - 12 invokes system-provided executables that do not have fully-qualified paths. Executables in the directory where the installer loads or the current working directory take precedence over the intended executables. An attacker having permission to add files into one of those directories can use this to execute arbitrary code with the installer's administrative rights.

It was found that some PostgreSQL extensions did not use search_path safely in their installation script. An attacker with sufficient privileges could use this flaw to trick an administrator into executing a specially crafted script, during the installation or update of such extension. This affects PostgreSQL versions before 12.4, before 11.9, before 10.14, before 9.6.19, and before 9.5.23.

In PostgreSQL 9.3 through 11.2, the "COPY TO/FROM PROGRAM" function allows superusers and users in the 'pg_execute_server_program' group to execute arbitrary code in the context of the database's operating system user. This functionality is enabled by default and can be abused to run arbitrary operating system commands on Windows, Linux, and macOS. NOTE: Third parties claim/state this is not an issue because PostgreSQL functionality for ‘COPY TO/FROM PROGRAM’ is acting as intended. References state that in PostgreSQL, a superuser can execute commands as the server user without using the ‘COPY FROM PROGRAM’.

postgresql before versions 10.4, 9.6.9 is vulnerable in the adminpack extension, the pg_catalog.pg_logfile_rotate() function doesn't follow the same ACLs than pg_rorate_logfile. If the adminpack is added to a database, an attacker able to connect to it could exploit this to force log rotation.

A flaw was found in the way Postgresql allowed a user to modify the behavior of a query for other users. An attacker with a user account could use this flaw to execute code with the permissions of superuser in the database. Versions 9.3 through 10 are affected.

PostgreSQL 10.x before 10.1, 9.6.x before 9.6.6, 9.5.x before 9.5.10, 9.4.x before 9.4.15, 9.3.x before 9.3.20, and 9.2.x before 9.2.24 runs under a non-root operating system account, and database superusers have effective ability to run arbitrary code under that system account. PostgreSQL provides a script for starting the database server during system boot. Packages of PostgreSQL for many operating systems provide their own, packager-authored startup implementations. Several implementations use a log file name that the database superuser can replace with a symbolic link. As root, they open(), chmod() and/or chown() this log file name. This often suffices for the database superuser to escalate to root privileges when root starts the server.

INSERT ... ON CONFLICT DO UPDATE commands in PostgreSQL 10.x before 10.1, 9.6.x before 9.6.6, and 9.5.x before 9.5.10 disclose table contents that the invoker lacks privilege to read. These exploits affect only tables where the attacker lacks full read access but has both INSERT and UPDATE privileges. Exploits bypass row level security policies and lack of SELECT privilege.

Invalid json_populate_recordset or jsonb_populate_recordset function calls in PostgreSQL 10.x before 10.1, 9.6.x before 9.6.6, 9.5.x before 9.5.10, 9.4.x before 9.4.15, and 9.3.x before 9.3.20 can crash the server or disclose a few bytes of server memory.

PostgreSQL versions before 9.4.13, 9.5.8 and 9.6.4 are vulnerable to authorization flaw allowing remote authenticated attackers with no privileges on a large object to overwrite the entire contents of the object, resulting in a denial of service.

PostgreSQL versions before 9.2.22, 9.3.18, 9.4.13, 9.5.8 and 9.6.4 are vulnerable to authorization flaw allowing remote authenticated attackers to retrieve passwords from the user mappings defined by the foreign server owners without actually having the privileges to do so.

PostgreSQL versions before 9.2.22, 9.3.18, 9.4.13, 9.5.8 and 9.6.4 are vulnerable to incorrect authentication flaw allowing remote attackers to gain access to database accounts with an empty password.

PostgreSQL versions 8.4 - 9.6 are vulnerable to information leak in pg_user_mappings view which discloses foreign server passwords to any user having USAGE privilege on the associated foreign server.

In PostgreSQL 9.3.x before 9.3.17, 9.4.x before 9.4.12, 9.5.x before 9.5.7, and 9.6.x before 9.6.3, it was found that the PGREQUIRESSL environment variable was no longer enforcing a SSL/TLS connection to a PostgreSQL server. An active Man-in-the-Middle attacker could use this flaw to strip the SSL/TLS protection from a connection between a client and a server.

It was found that some selectivity estimation functions in PostgreSQL before 9.2.21, 9.3.x before 9.3.17, 9.4.x before 9.4.12, 9.5.x before 9.5.7, and 9.6.x before 9.6.3 did not check user privileges before providing information from pg_statistic, possibly leaking information. An unprivileged attacker could use this flaw to steal some information from tables they are otherwise not allowed to access.

PostgreSQL before 9.1.23, 9.2.x before 9.2.18, 9.3.x before 9.3.14, 9.4.x before 9.4.9, and 9.5.x before 9.5.4 might allow remote authenticated users with the CREATEDB or CREATEROLE role to gain superuser privileges via a (1) " (double quote), (2) \ (backslash), (3) carriage return, or (4) newline character in a (a) database or (b) role name that is mishandled during an administrative operation.

PostgreSQL before 9.1.23, 9.2.x before 9.2.18, 9.3.x before 9.3.14, 9.4.x before 9.4.9, and 9.5.x before 9.5.4 allow remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and server crash), obtain sensitive memory information, or possibly execute arbitrary code via (1) a CASE expression within the test value subexpression of another CASE or (2) inlining of an SQL function that implements the equality operator used for a CASE expression involving values of different types.