Vulnerability · Published May 11, 2026 · Assigned by PostgreSQL
CVE-2026-7818pgAdmin 4: Unsafe deserialization (CWE-502) in file-backed session manager leads to remote code execution
High 7.0
In plain English
A high-severity unsafe deserialization in pgAdmin 4 from pgadmin.org. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.1% (higher than 3% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Deserialization of untrusted data (CWE-502) in pgAdmin 4 FileBackedSessionManager. The session manager performed unsafe deserialization of session-file contents (using Python's standard object-serialization module) before performing any HMAC integrity check. Any file dropped into the sessions directory was deserialized unconditionally. An authenticated user with write access to the sessions directory (whether by misconfiguration or in combination with another path-traversal flaw) could plant a crafted serialized payload to achieve operating-system level remote code execution under the pgAdmin process identity. Fix prepends a 64-byte hex SHA-256 HMAC over the session body, computed with SECRET_KEY, and verifies it via hmac.compare_digest before any deserialization. The check is raised (rather than asserted) on empty SECRET_KEY so it is not stripped under -O. This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.15.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | pgadmin4 | 9.15 | GHSA-4rhg-h8f2-v4jm |
| PyPI | pgadmin4 | 9.15 | PYSEC-2026-2865 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| pgadmin.org | pgAdmin 4 | 0 – before 9.15 |
Weakness: CWE-502 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/pgadmin-org/pgadmin4/issues/9901 issue-tracking