GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) CWE-284 vulnerability in pgadmin4. A fix is available for pgadmin4 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
pgAdmin 4 server mode has an authorization vulnerability affecting Server Groups, Servers, Shared Servers, Background Processes, and Debugger modules
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw.
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
GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw 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 379,145 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
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
Authorization vulnerability in pgAdmin 4 server mode affecting Server Groups, Servers, Shared Servers, Background Processes, and Debugger modules.
Multiple endpoints fetched user-owned objects without filtering by the requesting user's identity. An authenticated user could access another user's private servers, server groups, background processes, and debugger function arguments by guessing object IDs.
Additionally, the Shared Servers feature contained multiple issues including credential leakage (passexec_cmd, passfile, SSL keys), privilege escalation via writable passexec_cmd (a shell command executed when establishing the connection) allowing arbitrary command execution in the owner's process context, and owner-data corruption via SQLAlchemy session mutations. Several owner-only fields (passexec_cmd, passexec_expiration, db_res, db_res_type) were writable by non-owners through the API, and additional fields (kerberos_conn, tags, post_connection_sql) lacked per-user persistence so non-owner edits mutated the owner's record.
Fix centralises access control via a new server_access module, scopes all user-owned models with a UserScopedMixin, returns HTTP 410 from connection_manager when access is denied in server mode, suppresses owner-only fields for non-owners across the merge / API response / ServerManager paths, and adds an explicit owner-only write guard. The remediation landed in two pull requests; both are referenced.
This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.15.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | pgadmin4 | all versions | 9.15pip install --upgrade 'pgadmin4==9.15' |
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 9.15 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw 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 GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-h2x2-q2mc-24gw across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.