pgadmin4 has a Meta-Command Filter Command ExecutionGHSA-fxmw-jcgr-w44v
CRITICALFix: pgadmin-org/pgadmin4#9426GHSA-fxmw-jcgr-w44v is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.1) Code Injection vulnerability in pgadmin4. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for pgadmin4 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-fxmw-jcgr-w44v.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
pgadmin4Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The PLAIN restore meta-command filter introduced in pgAdmin as part of the fix for CVE-2025-12762 does not detect meta-commands when a SQL file begins with a UTF-8 Byte Order Mark (EF BB BF) or other special byte sequences. The implemented filter uses the function has_meta_commands(), which scans raw bytes using a regular expression. The regex does not treat the bytes as ignorable, so meta-commands such as \\! remain undetected. When pgAdmin invokes psql with --file, psql strips the bytes and executes the command. This can result in remote command execution during a restore operation.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | pgadmin4 | all versions | 9.11pip install --upgrade 'pgadmin4==9.11' |
Affected Products
pgadmin 4pgadminResearch 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 pgadmin4, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update pgadmin4 to 9.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-fxmw-jcgr-w44v is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-fxmw-jcgr-w44v in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.