CVE-2025-8715: 
PostgreSQL vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-8715 is a critical vulnerability in PostgreSQL's pgdump utility discovered in August 2025. The flaw stems from improper neutralization of newlines in pgdump, affecting PostgreSQL versions 13 through 17. This vulnerability allows a user of the origin server to inject arbitrary code for restore-time execution via psql meta-commands inside purpose-crafted object names. Notably, this vulnerability reintroduces attack vectors that were previously fixed by CVE-2012-0868 but were reintroduced in version 11.20 (PostgreSQL Security).

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. The flaw is classified under CWE-93 (Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences). The vulnerability affects multiple PostgreSQL components including pgdump, pgdumpall, pgrestore, and pgupgrade. Specifically, it impacts versions before PostgreSQL 17.6, 16.10, 15.14, 14.19, and 13.22, while versions before 11.20 are unaffected (NVD Database, PostgreSQL Security).

The vulnerability has dual impact vectors: it enables arbitrary code execution on the client system with the privileges of the user running the psql restore operation, and it can achieve SQL injection as a superuser of the restore target server. This is particularly dangerous in DevOps environments where automated backup restoration occurs regularly, as compromised dumps can execute with elevated system privileges (GBHackers).

Organizations must upgrade to the fixed versions: PostgreSQL 17.6, 16.10, 15.14, 14.19, or 13.22. Cloud providers have initiated emergency fleet updates and some have disabled customer-initiated logical restore operations until tenant clusters are patched. Development teams are advised to audit their CI/CD pipelines for pg_dump usage and implement additional validation steps for backup files (PostgreSQL Security, GBHackers).

Cloud providers have responded rapidly to this threat by initiating emergency fleet updates and temporarily disabling customer-initiated logical restore operations until their tenant clusters are verified as patched. The PostgreSQL project has credited Noah Misch for responsibly disclosing this vulnerability (GBHackers).