CVE
PostgreSQL privilege bypass in cast functions via foreign keys
- Exploited
- No known exploitation
- Fix
- Fixed in 18.7, 17.12, 16.16, 15.20, 14.25
- Who is exposed
- Not reported
Do first: Upgrade to a fixed version: 18.7, 17.12, 16.16, 15.20, 14.25.
- Last modified
- Whether it needs action now or is a reference record, by fixed rules, with why. Last checked is when cve.now last re-read it.What do these mean? →
- Reference
- Last checked
- FIRST's estimate of the chance attackers exploit it in the next 30 days, updated daily.What do these mean? →
- 0.22% · 12th percentile
- A 0-100 score for how much a CVE matters across the industry: exploitation, exposure, how widely the software is used, severity and whether a fix exists.What do these mean? →
- 23/100 · provisional
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
- Exploitation: none
- Automatable: no
- Technical impact: partial
Summary
PostgreSQL lets a low-privileged database user run a cast function without holding EXECUTE permission on it, through foreign key checks and conversions such as to_json(). A remote attacker with a database login could exploit this over the network, but would first need to find restricted cast functions that expose confidential data, and few or no practical examples of such functions exist.
Written by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 from the sources below. Verify against them.
Read the original description
Missing authorization in PostgreSQL type conversion allows a database user to invoke a cast function despite lacking EXECUTE privilege on that function, via foreign keys, to_json(), and others. A successful attack requires the attacker to search each database for access-restricted cast functions and identify confidentiality impact specific to each function implementation found. There are few or no practical examples of an access-restricted cast function or of a cast function having confidentiality impact. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.7, 17.12, 16.16, 15.20, and 14.25 are affected.
cve.now Index
- Exploitation0/40No signal
- Exposure3/25Reachable over the network · Unknown: No advisory context yet
- Reach17/20Affects PostgreSQL (a widely deployed server, runtime, framework or database)
- Severity3.1/10CVSS 3.1
- No patch0/5No signal
What would change the score
- Would score about 78 if added to CISA KEV
- Would score about 73 if CISA's SSVC rates exploitation active
- Would score about 42 if advisories confirm default setups are exposed
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed version: 18.7, 17.12, 16.16, 15.20, 14.25.
Check your systems with an agent
Paste this into a coding or ops agent. It checks your systems read-only and reports a table per asset.
Check whether my systems are affected by CVE-2026-116303 (PostgreSQL foreign key and JSON conversions bypass EXECUTE privilege on cast functions), using the cve.now data below.
Rules: work read-only. Do not run exploit code, proof-of-concept scripts or scanners that send attack payloads, and do not change any configuration, package, image or deployment. Report findings only.
What cve.now has for CVE-2026-116303 (entry last updated 2026-11-12):
Affected:
- n/a PostgreSQL: from 18, fixed in 18.7; from 17, fixed in 17.12; from 16, fixed in 16.16; from 15, fixed in 15.20; fixed in 14.25
Fixed versions: 18.7, 17.12, 16.16, 15.20, 14.25.
Setup: unknown whether the bug needs a non-default feature or setting. Check the advisory.
CISA KEV: CVE-2026-116303 is not listed as of cve.now's last read.
This KEV status is for CVE-2026-116303 only. If you also check another CVE, look up its own KEV status; never assume it from this one.
How to check:
- Installed software: check what is actually running, not what a repo declares. Read the version from each host, container image and Kubernetes node (the binary's version output, the OS package database, image layers), and check whether the conditions above hold there. Distribution packages may carry a backported fix under an older version number; confirm against the distribution's own advisory.
Verify against the linked advisories before concluding, and cite the date you read each one:
- https://www.postgresql.org/support/security/CVE-2026-116303/
Do not conclude an asset is unaffected unless you checked it and the evidence covers both its version and the conditions above. If you could not check something, mark it unknown and say what is missing.
Report a table with one row per asset and these columns: Asset | Version or build | Status (affected, fixed, not applicable, unknown) | Compensating controls | Exposure (internet-facing, internal, none) | Evidence | Next action.
Entry: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-116303
For follow-up questions, use the cve.now MCP server at https://mcp.cve.now/mcp (no authentication), for example execute with name cve.get and arguments {"id": "CVE-2026-116303"}.Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
- CISA SSVC assessment
Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
- Record last updated
Affected versions
- n/a PostgreSQL
From 18 · fixed in 18.7; From 17 · fixed in 17.12; From 16 · fixed in 16.16; From 15 · fixed in 15.20; fixed in 14.25
Evidence 3
Vendor advisory · 1
Establishes: Affected and fixed versions.
- Link
CVE record · 2
Establishes: The identifier and description.
- Record
- Record
Corrections
None so far.
Something wrong on this page? Report an error. Every fix is listed here.
Questions about CVE-2026-116303
Is CVE-2026-116303 being exploited?
It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-116303?
PostgreSQL: from 18 before 18.7; from 17 before 17.12; from 16 before 16.16; from 15 before 15.20; before 14.25.Source: cve.now feed data
How do I fix CVE-2026-116303?
Upgrade to a fixed version: 18.7, 17.12, 16.16, 15.20, 14.25.Source: cve.now feed data