Heap buffer overflow in PostgreSQL to_char(timestamptz) allows the party choosing the timezone to execute arbitrary code as the operating system user running the database, via a long POSIX timezone abbreviation. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.6, 17.11, 16.15, 15.19, and 14.24 are affected.
Weakness
A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postgresql | Postgresql | 14.0 (including) | 14.24 (excluding) |
| Postgresql | Postgresql | 15.0 (including) | 15.19 (excluding) |
| Postgresql | Postgresql | 16.0 (including) | 16.15 (excluding) |
| Postgresql | Postgresql | 17.0 (including) | 17.11 (excluding) |
| Postgresql | Postgresql | 18.0 (including) | 18.5 (excluding) |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | RedHat | postgresql18-0:18.6-1.el10_2 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | RedHat | postgresql16-0:16.15-1.el10_2 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | RedHat | postgresql:16-8100020260910192321.489197e6 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | RedHat | postgresql:15-8100020260906175012.489197e6 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | RedHat | postgresql:12-8100020260917081510.489197e6 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service | RedHat | postgresql:15-8080020260921162003.63b34585 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | postgresql:15-8080020260921162003.63b34585 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | postgresql:16-9080020260907191505.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | postgresql:18-9080020260914093252.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | postgresql-0:13.23-6.el9_8 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | RedHat | postgresql:15-9080020260903073937.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | postgresql:15-9020020260917092006.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | postgresql:15-9040020260917091622.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions | RedHat | postgresql:16-9040020260922062609.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support | RedHat | postgresql:15-9060020260917102335.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support | RedHat | postgresql:16-9060020260921091101.rhel9 | * |
| Red Hat Update Infrastructure 5 | RedHat | rhui5/rhua-rhel9:1790242004 | * |
| Postgresql-10 | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
| Postgresql-12 | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
| Postgresql-14 | Ubuntu | jammy | * |
| Postgresql-16 | Ubuntu | noble | * |
| Postgresql-18 | Ubuntu | devel | * |
| Postgresql-18 | Ubuntu | resolute | * |
| Postgresql-9.3 | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
| Postgresql-9.5 | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
Potential Mitigations
- Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index checking.
- D3-SFCV (Stack Frame Canary Validation) from D3FEND [REF-1334] discusses canary-based detection in detail.
- Run or compile the software using features or extensions that randomly arrange the positions of a program’s executable and libraries in memory. Because this makes the addresses unpredictable, it can prevent an attacker from reliably jumping to exploitable code.
- Examples include Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) [REF-58] [REF-60] and Position-Independent Executables (PIE) [REF-64]. Imported modules may be similarly realigned if their default memory addresses conflict with other modules, in a process known as “rebasing” (for Windows) and “prelinking” (for Linux) [REF-1332] using randomly generated addresses. ASLR for libraries cannot be used in conjunction with prelink since it would require relocating the libraries at run-time, defeating the whole purpose of prelinking.
- For more information on these techniques see D3-SAOR (Segment Address Offset Randomization) from D3FEND [REF-1335].