CVE-2024-4317

Missing authorization in PostgreSQL built-in views pg_stats_ext and pg_stats_ext_exprs allows an unprivileged database user to read most common values and other statistics from CREATE STATISTICS commands of other users. The most common values may reveal column values the eavesdropper could not otherwise read or results of functions they cannot execute. Installing an unaffected version only fixes fresh PostgreSQL installations, namely those that are created with the initdb utility after installing that version. Current PostgreSQL installations will remain vulnerable until they follow the instructions in the release notes. Within major versions 14-16, minor versions before PostgreSQL 16.3, 15.7, and 14.12 are affected. Versions before PostgreSQL 14 are unaffected.

Weakness

The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

Affected Software

Extended Description

Assuming a user with a given identity, authorization is the process of determining whether that user can access a given resource, based on the user’s privileges and any permissions or other access-control specifications that apply to the resource. When access control checks are not applied, users are able to access data or perform actions that they should not be allowed to perform. This can lead to a wide range of problems, including information exposures, denial of service, and arbitrary code execution.

Potential Mitigations

• Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [REF-229] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
• Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
• Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
• For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [REF-233] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [REF-45].
• For web applications, make sure that the access control mechanism is enforced correctly at the server side on every page. Users should not be able to access any unauthorized functionality or information by simply requesting direct access to that page.
• One way to do this is to ensure that all pages containing sensitive information are not cached, and that all such pages restrict access to requests that are accompanied by an active and authenticated session token associated with a user who has the required permissions to access that page.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/665.html

References

• https://www.postgresql.org/support/security/CVE-2024-4317/