Vulnerability Database

374,644

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2026-18408 — postgresql / postgresql

Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere

Untrusted data inclusion in pg_dump in PostgreSQL allows a malicious superuser of the origin server to inject arbitrary code for restore-time execution as the client operating system account running psql to restore the dump, via psql \restrict meta-command input expansion. The fix for CVE-2025-8714 introduced \restrict and \unrestrict to block this attack, but \unrestrict itself was sufficient for an attack. pg_dumpall is also affected. pg_restore is affected when used to generate a plain-format dump. Non-core use of \restrict would be affected, but we've not identified non-core use. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.5, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, and 14.24 are affected.

  • Published: Aug 13, 2026
  • Updated: Aug 14, 2026
  • CVE: CVE-2026-18408
  • Severity: High
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 8.8
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWEs:

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.