📌 Vulnerability Summary

  • Product: pgAdmin 4
  • Affected Versions: ≤ 9.10
  • Fixed Version: 9.11
  • Impact: Remote Code Execution (RCE) on pgAdmin host
  • Exposure: ~41,200+ internet-facing instances
  • Source: ZoomEye

🔥 Proof of Concept Overview

Attackers can craft a malicious PLAIN-format SQL dump that bypasses pgAdmin's meta-command filter, resulting in command execution on the server when a restore operation is performed.

The vulnerability stems from parsing inconsistencies between:

  • pgAdmin's regex-based filter, and
  • the psql interpreter.

📁 PoC Repository: https://github.com/zeropwn/pgadmin4-9.10-CVE-2025-13780

🎯 OSINT / Exposure Query (ZoomEye)

app="pgAdmin4"

📚 Technical Deep Dive

Root Cause

pgAdmin relied on a regex-based filter (has_meta_commands()) to block dangerous psql meta-commands such as:

\!   # Execute shell command

This approach proved insufficient.

Bypass Techniques

  • Use of alternative whitespace characters:
  • Carriage return (\r)
  • Vertical tab
  • Prepending the SQL file with a UTF-8 Byte Order Mark (BOM)

These techniques allow the payload to evade the filter while still being interpreted correctly by psql.

🛠️ The Fix (pgAdmin 4 v9.11)

Instead of attempting to detect malicious content, pgAdmin moved the security boundary:

  • Restore operations now invoke psql with the \restrict flag
  • This disables dangerous meta-commands at the interpreter level
  • Eliminates reliance on brittle regex filtering

🧨 Impact

Successful exploitation allows:

  • Pre-auth or user-assisted remote command execution
  • Full compromise of the pgAdmin host
  • Lateral movement and database access
  • High risk in shared or enterprise environments

🛡️ Mitigation & Defense

Immediate Actions

  • ✅ Upgrade to pgAdmin 4 v9.11 or later
  • ❌ Disable or restrict PLAIN-format restore if not required

Operational Guidance

  • Treat restore operations as high-risk
  • Harden the OS environment hosting pgAdmin
  • Log and audit all restore activity
  • Restrict access to trusted administrators only

📰 References & Advisories

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🏷️ Tags

#pgAdmin #PostgreSQL #RCE #CVE2025 #ZoomEye #CyberSecurity #VulnerabilityResearch #InfoSec