Affects widely used PostgreSQL and allows arbitrary OS command execution during restore, risking backups and client systems across organizations.
CVE-2026-18408
PostgreSQL pg_dump/pg_restore allows origin superuser to inject code executed on restore.
WAF coverage: Network-reachable. Generic WAF signatures may reduce blast radius. No CWE mapping to be precise.
Also consider: patch
Is CVE-2026-18408 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-18408 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.36% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-18408?
CVE-2026-18408 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-18408?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-18408. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-18408 affect?
CVE-2026-18408 affects PostgreSQL < 18.5, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, 14.24, pg_dump, pg_dumpall, pg_restore, and 1 further product or version. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-18408?
Upgrade to fixed PostgreSQL releases and avoid restoring dumps from untrusted servers.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
A malicious origin DB superuser can inject payloads into dumps to run arbitrary OS commands as the psql restore user.
Immediate action required
- affected>= 18 and < 18.6
- affected>= 17 and < 17.11
- affected>= 16 and < 16.15
- affected>= 15 and < 15.19
- affected< 14.24
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.