CVE Intelligence
Medium File handling

CVE-2026-116250 — pgAdmin 4: Files opened in a storage directory follow a symbolic link, hard link or FIFO planted after the containment check

In server mode pgAdmin 4 validates a path a user gives for a file in their storage directory with check_access_permission() and then opened it by name. Several places opened it with a plain open() or handed the path to a utility that opened it later: the servers.json export and import and the import file listing, and the files given to pg_dump, pg_dumpall, pg_restore and psql by Backup, Restore and Import/Export Data. A symbolic link swapped in at the file or at any parent directory between the check and the open redirected the operation outside the storage directory, so a file could be written, overwritten or read, or loaded into a table, as the operating-system account running pgAdmin. A hard link to an outside file, which O_NOFOLLOW does not detect, and a FIFO, which could hang a request, had the same effect. CVE-2026-86861 fixed this for the File Manager's save_file; these were the remaining paths. Exploitation requires creating such a link or FIFO inside the user's storage directory. pgAdmin offers no way to do so, and the per-user storage directories belong to the pgAdmin account, so this requires write access to the storage backend as a different operating-system user, for example a shared or network-mounted storage directory, and winning the race. The fix opens each file by walking down from the storage directory one component at a time with O_NOFOLLOW, accepting only a regular file with one link, and passes the utilities the open descriptor (/dev/fd/N) on Linux. Error messages no longer include the server path. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.19.

Published Oct 30, 2026 · Updated Oct 30, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: PostgreSQL

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
—
No EPSS score.
Affects
Pgadmin.org
pgAdmin 4
CVSS base
6.5
Medium · 2 source(s)

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Pgadmin.org pgAdmin 4).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (file handling), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Pgadmin.org pgAdmin 4 < 9.19 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.3 CVSS 4.0 High — — f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.3 CVSS 4.0 High — — PostgreSQL via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.0 5.5 f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — PostgreSQL via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L (score shown at the top: f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-59 · Link Following

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Monitor file creation in web directories and paths with traversal sequences (../).
endpoint telemetry (EDR)file integrity (FIM)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · pgadmin.org/pgadmin 4
    Oct 30, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 30, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 6.5
    Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Received
    Oct 30, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 30, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • CVE published
    Oct 30, 2026 · PostgreSQL

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× References added · Oct 30, 2026 – Oct 30, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 30, 2026 – Oct 30, 2026

References

4 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Pgadmin.org
every CVE for this vendor
File handling
same class
CWE-59
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-116252 pgAdmin 4: Materialized view refresh redirects its connection through a crafted database name 1d
  • CVE-2026-116251 pgAdmin 4: A user's other sessions survive a change of their password 1d
  • CVE-2026-116249 pgAdmin 4: Connection file paths and parameter keys escape the user's storage directory 1d
  • CVE-2026-116245 pgAdmin 4: Connection services are not restricted in server mode 1d
  • CVE-2026-116248 pgAdmin 4: Non-administrators can share a server with every user 1d
  • CVE-2026-116244 pgAdmin 4: libpq uses the pgAdmin service account's Kerberos credentials 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No FIRST EPSS score.
  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No CISA SSVC assessment.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-116250 is "pgAdmin 4: Files opened in a storage directory follow a symbolic link, hard link or FIFO planted after the containment check", rated Medium. It affects pgAdmin 4 (Pgadmin.org); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.5 describes technical severity. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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