GHSA-rj98-crf4-g69w is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) CWE-31 vulnerability in pgadmin4. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for pgadmin4 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
pgAdmin 4 vulnerable to Unsafe Deserialization and Remote Code Execution by an Authenticated user
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-rj98-crf4-g69w.
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-rj98-crf4-g69w plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% 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
pgAdmin prior to version 8.4 is affected by a path-traversal vulnerability while deserializing users’ sessions in the session handling code. If the server is running on Windows, an unauthenticated attacker can load and deserialize remote pickle objects and gain code execution. If the server is running on POSIX/Linux, an authenticated attacker can upload pickle objects, deserialize them and gain code execution.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | pgadmin4 | all versions | 8.4pip install --upgrade 'pgadmin4==8.4' |
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 pgadmin4, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update pgadmin4 to 8.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-rj98-crf4-g69w 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-rj98-crf4-g69w can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-rj98-crf4-g69w. 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-rj98-crf4-g69w in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-rj98-crf4-g69w across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.