CVE-2022-25852 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-704 vulnerability in libpq. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for libpq — see the affected versions and patch details below.
pg-native and libpq vulnerable to uncontrolled resource consumption
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2022-25852 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
libpqnpmpg-nativenpmDescription
All versions of package pg-native; all versions of package libpq are vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) when the addons attempt to cast the second argument to an array and fail. This happens for every non-array argument passed. Note: pg-native is a mere binding to npm's libpq library, which in turn has the addons and bindings to the actual C libpq library. This means that problems found in pg-native may transitively impact npm's libpq.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | libpq | all versions | 1.8.10npm install libpq@1.8.10 |
| 📦npm | pg-native | all versions | 3.0.1npm install pg-native@3.0.1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for libpq, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update libpq to 1.8.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-25852 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2022-25852 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2022-25852. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-25852 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2022-25852 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.