CVE-2023-1907
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in pgAdmin's LDAP authentication allows session confusion when multiple users attempt to log in simultaneously. Attackers could potentially access another user's session and their database privileges. Only pgAdmin installations running in server mode with LDAP authentication enabled are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- pgAdmin
📦 What is this software?
Pgadmin by Pgadmin
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker gains unauthorized access to a privileged user's session, potentially accessing sensitive databases, executing arbitrary SQL commands, or exfiltrating data.
Likely Case
Session confusion leads to users accessing incorrect sessions with limited privileges, causing data integrity issues or unauthorized access to non-sensitive data.
If Mitigated
With proper network segmentation and authentication controls, impact is limited to session confusion within the pgAdmin interface only.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires LDAP authentication and simultaneous login attempts. Timing-based attack that exploits race condition in session handling.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: pgAdmin 4 version 7.6 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://www.pgadmin.org/security/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup pgAdmin configuration and data. 2. Stop pgAdmin service. 3. Upgrade to pgAdmin 4 version 7.6 or later. 4. Restart pgAdmin service. 5. Verify authentication works correctly.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable LDAP Authentication
allTemporarily switch to alternative authentication methods until patching is complete
Modify pgAdmin config.py: AUTHENTICATION_SOURCES = ['internal']
Implement Rate Limiting
allAdd rate limiting to login endpoints to reduce simultaneous login attempts
Configure web server (nginx/apache) rate limiting for /login endpoint
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate pgAdmin from untrusted networks
- Enable detailed session logging and monitor for unusual authentication patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check pgAdmin version and authentication configuration. If version < 7.6 and LDAP authentication is enabled, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
pgadmin4 --version or check web interface About pageVerify Fix Applied:
Verify pgAdmin version is 7.6 or later and test LDAP authentication with multiple simultaneous login attempts.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple simultaneous login attempts from different IPs
- Session ID mismatches in authentication logs
- Users reporting incorrect session access
Network Indicators:
- Unusual authentication request patterns
- Multiple LDAP bind requests in short timeframes
SIEM Query:
source="pgadmin" AND ("login" OR "authenticate") | stats count by src_ip, user within 1s