CVE-2018-16850

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Description

A SQL Injection flaw has been discovered in PostgreSQL server in the way triggers that enable transition relations are dumped. The transition relation name is not correctly quoted and it may allow an attacker with CREATE privilege on some non-temporary schema or TRIGGER privilege on some table to create a malicious trigger that, when dumped and restored, would result in additional SQL statements being executed.

A SQL Injection flaw has been discovered in PostgreSQL server in the way triggers that enable transition relations are dumped. The transition relation name is not correctly quoted and it may allow an attacker with CREATE privilege on some non-temporary schema or TRIGGER privilege on some table to create a malicious trigger that, when dumped and restored, would result in additional SQL statements being executed.

Statement

This issue did not affect the versions of postgresql as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, and 7 as they did not include support for triggers with `referecing` syntax, which was included in a later version of the program. It also doesn't affect the versions of postgresql shipped with CloudForms 4.2, 4.5 and 4.6, and Satellite 5, for the same reason as above. This issue did not affect the versions of postgresql shipped within Tower, as there is no code path for Tower users to call the CREATE statement.

This issue did not affect the versions of postgresql as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, and 7 as they did not include support for triggers with referecing syntax, which was included in a later version of the program.

It also doesn't affect the versions of postgresql shipped with CloudForms 4.2, 4.5 and 4.6, and Satellite 5, for the same reason as above.

This issue did not affect the versions of postgresql shipped within Tower, as there is no code path for Tower users to call the CREATE statement.

Additional information

  • Bugzilla 1645937: postgresql: SQL injection in pg_upgrade and pg_dump, via CREATE TRIGGER ... REFERENCING
  • CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2018-16850

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
Red HatNVD

CVSS v3 Base Score

8

9.8

Attack Vector

Network

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Low

Privileges Required

Low

None

User Interaction

Required

None

Scope

Unchanged

Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact

High

High

Integrity Impact

High

High

Availability Impact

High

High

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

CWE-89

Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability

Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Adversaries could execute system commands, typically by changing the SQL statement to redirect output to a file that can then be executed.

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Read Application Data

Since SQL databases generally hold sensitive data, loss of confidentiality is a frequent problem with SQL injection vulnerabilities.

Authentication

Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Bypass Protection Mechanism

If poor SQL commands are used to check user names and passwords or perform other kinds of authentication, it may be possible to connect to the product as another user with no previous knowledge of the password.

Access Control

Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism

If authorization information is held in a SQL database, it may be possible to change this information through the successful exploitation of a SQL injection vulnerability.

Integrity

Technical Impact: Modify Application Data

Just as it may be possible to read sensitive information, it is also possible to modify or even delete this information with a SQL injection attack.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

What is a mitigation?

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

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