CVE-2022-31197
HIGHSQL Injection in ResultSet.refreshRow() with malicious column names in pgjdbc
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.
Blast Radius
org.postgresql:postgresql☕org.postgresql:postgresql☕org.postgresql:postgresqlReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
PostgreSQL JDBC Driver (PgJDBC for short) allows Java programs to connect to a PostgreSQL database using standard, database independent Java code. The PGJDBC implementation of the java.sql.ResultRow.refreshRow() method is not performing escaping of column names so a malicious column name that contains a statement terminator, e.g. ;, could lead to SQL injection. This could lead to executing additional SQL commands as the application's JDBC user. User applications that do not invoke the ResultSet.refreshRow() method are not impacted. User application that do invoke that method are impacted if the underlying database that they are querying via their JDBC application may be under the control of an attacker. The attack requires the attacker to trick the user into executing SQL against a table name who's column names would contain the malicious SQL and subsequently invoke the refreshRow() method on the ResultSet. Note that the application's JDBC user and the schema owner need not be the same. A JDBC application that executes as a privileged user querying database schemas owned by potentially malicious less-privileged users would be vulnerable. In that situation it may be possible for the malicious user to craft a schema that causes the application to execute commands as the privileged user. Patched versions will be released as 42.2.26 and 42.4.1. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.postgresql:postgresql | all versions | 42.2.26 |
| ☕Maven | org.postgresql:postgresql | ≥ 42.4.0&&< 42.4.1 | 42.4.1 |
| ☕Maven | org.postgresql:postgresql | ≥ 42.3.0&&< 42.3.7 | 42.3.7 |
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 org.postgresql:postgresql. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update org.postgresql:postgresql to 42.2.26 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-31197 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2022-31197 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2022-31197. 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-2022-31197 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2022-31197 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.