CVE-2026-6475: PostgreSQL

High severity, CVSS 8.8. EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Symlink following in PostgreSQL pg_basebackup plain format and in pg_rewind allows an origin superuser to overwrite local files, e.g. /var/lib/postgres/.bashrc, that hijack the operating system account. It will remain the case that starting the server after these commands implicitly trusts the origin superuser, due to features like shared_preload_libraries. Hence, the attack has practical implications only if one takes relevant action between these commands and server start, like moving the files to a different VM or snapshotting the VM. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.4, 17.10, 16.14, 15.18, and 14.23 are affected.

Affected products

• PostgreSQL PostgreSQL: before 14.23 (fixed in 14.23); from 15.0, before 15.18 (fixed in 15.18); from 16.0, before 16.14 (fixed in 16.14); from 17.0, before 17.10 (fixed in 17.10); from 18.0, before 18.4 (fixed in 18.4)

Published 2026-05-14. Last modified 2026-06-17.