CVE-2025-8714: Critical PostgreSQL Vulnerability Allowing Malicious Code Injection by Superusers

Overview

A serious vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-8714, has been identified in PostgreSQL, a popular open-source object-relational database system. This vulnerability could allow a malicious superuser on the original server to inject arbitrary code that could run during restore time in the operating system of the client running psql to restore the dump. This vulnerability impacts multiple versions of PostgreSQL and is similar to the MySQL vulnerability CVE-2024-21096. It’s an issue of concern due to its potential to compromise entire systems and leak sensitive data.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-8714
Severity: Critical (8.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: High (Superuser of the origin server)
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise and potential data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

PostgreSQL | Versions before PostgreSQL 17.6, 16.10, 15.14, 14.19, and 13.22

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of the untrusted data inclusion in ‘pg_dump’ in PostgreSQL. A malicious superuser of the origin server can inject arbitrary code that is executed at restore time. This happens when the client operating system account runs ‘psql’ to restore the dump. It affects ‘pg_dumpall’ and ‘pg_restore’ when used to generate a plain-format dump.

Conceptual Example Code

Below is a conceptual example of a malicious payload that might be delivered to exploit this vulnerability:

-- Assuming a vulnerable version of PostgreSQL
\connect target_database
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION malicious_func() RETURNS VOID AS $$
BEGIN
-- Arbitrary malicious SQL commands here
-- Code here will be executed with the permissions of the superuser
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql SECURITY DEFINER;
SELECT malicious_func();

Above, the malicious superuser creates a function that contains arbitrary SQL commands. The function is marked as `SECURITY DEFINER`, which makes it run with the permissions of the user who created it, in this case, the superuser. When this function is restored through ‘pg_dump’, ‘pg_dumpall’, or ‘pg_restore’, the malicious code is executed.