CVE-2026-116244CWE-1188CWE-522

pgAdmin 4: libpq uses the pgAdmin service account's Kerberos credentials

High · published October 30, 2026

CVSS v3.1
8.2
EPSS
—
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

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.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
8.2 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVSS v4.0
7.1 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N
EPSS
Not scored
Weaknesses
CWE-1188 · Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default; CWE-522 · Insufficiently Protected Credentials
Published
2026-10-30T19:55Z
Timeline
  • 30 OCT 19:55Z
    pgAdmin 4: libpq uses the pgAdmin service account's Kerberos credentials
    cvelistv5
  • 30 OCT 19:55Z
    pgAdmin 4: libpq uses the pgAdmin service account's Kerberos credentials
    cvelistv5