CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-116244NVD status: Analyzed

pgAdmin 4: Insufficiently Protected Credentials

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-116244 is a critical-severity insufficiently protected credentials vulnerability in pgAdmin 4 from Pgadmin.org, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.6 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists version 9.19 as the first without the flaw, so updating pgAdmin 4 to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.28% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Update pgAdmin 4 to 9.19 or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Pgadmin.orgpgAdmin 4before 9.199.19

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 4.07.1HighCNA
CVSS 3.18.2HighCNA
CVSS 3.19.6CriticalNVD

Official description

When a pgAdmin 4 connection was not meant to use a Kerberos user's delegated credentials, pgAdmin removed KRB5CCNAME from its environment, so the Kerberos library fell back to the default credential cache, or a client keytab, of the operating-system account running pgAdmin. libpq then answered any server that asked for GSSAPI authentication with that account's ticket, whatever user name the pgAdmin user gave, so in server mode any user could connect as the service account's Kerberos principal; gssencmode=disable did not prevent it. On Windows, SSPI used the service account's logon in the same way. psql was also started with pgAdmin's environment, which could hold another user's credential cache while that user was connecting. The fix points KRB5CCNAME and KRB5_CLIENT_KTNAME at a file that cannot exist except while a Kerberos-authenticated user connects with Kerberos, and gives every other connection, psql and the utilities require_auth=!gss,!sspi and gssencmode=disable, checked on the final connection string. require_auth needs libpq 16 or later. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.19.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Insufficiently Protected Credentials

The product transmits or stores authentication credentials, but it uses an insecure method that is susceptible to unauthorized interception and/or retrieval.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use an appropriate security mechanism to protect the credentials.
  • Make appropriate use of cryptography to protect the credentials.
  • Use industry standards to protect the credentials (e.g. LDAP, keystore, etc.).

More Insufficiently Protected Credentials vulnerabilities (CWE-522)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other references

Other vulnerabilities in pgAdmin 4

All pgAdmin 4 vulnerabilities

Recent Insufficiently Protected Credentials vulnerabilities

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