CVE-2025-8715: Arbitrary Code and SQL Injection Vulnerability in PostgreSQL

Overview

The cybersecurity ecosystem recently identified a significant vulnerability in PostgreSQL, a popular open-source database management system. The vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-8715, allows an attacker to inject arbitrary code and execute SQL injections on target servers. This flaw is particularly concerning because it impacts several versions of PostgreSQL and can lead to serious consequences, such as potential system compromise or data leakage. Given the widespread use of PostgreSQL in diverse sectors, this vulnerability poses a high-risk threat to numerous systems globally.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-8715
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Impact: Arbitrary code execution, SQL injection leading to system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

PostgreSQL | 17.6 and below
PostgreSQL | 16.10 and below
PostgreSQL | 15.14 and below
PostgreSQL | 14.19 and below
PostgreSQL | 13.22 and below

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability CVE-2025-8715 arises due to improper neutralization of newlines in the ‘pg_dump’ function of PostgreSQL. This flaw allows an attacker to inject arbitrary code into a specially crafted object name, which gets executed during the restore process. The attack can also be performed to achieve SQL injection as a superuser on the target server, leading to a potential system compromise or data leakage.

Conceptual Example Code

Here is a
conceptual
example of how this vulnerability might be exploited using a malicious SQL command:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS "malicious\command\g
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION malicious() RETURNS TRIGGER AS $$
BEGIN
PERFORM pg_notify('malicious_activity', 'Data breach detected.');
RETURN NEW;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER malicious_trigger
AFTER INSERT ON public.sensitive_table
FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE FUNCTION malicious();
\"

In this conceptual example, an attacker creates a trigger that sends a notification to a pre-defined channel every time a new row is inserted into a sensitive table, thereby potentially leaking data.
To guard against this vulnerability, it is strongly recommended to apply the vendor patch immediately. In situations where immediate patching is not possible, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as temporary mitigation. However, these should not be considered long-term solutions, as they do not address the root cause of the vulnerability.