CVE-2026-6478
Description
Covert timing channel in comparison of MD5-hashed password in PostgreSQL authentication allows an attacker to recover user credentials sufficient to authenticate. This does not affect scram-sha-256 passwords, the default in all supported releases. However, current databases may have MD5-hashed passwords originating in upgrades from PostgreSQL 13 or earlier. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.4, 17.10, 16.14, 15.18, and 14.23 are affected.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
OS impact
SUSE Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
Windows Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
Debian Mixed 5 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trixie | Fixed | 17.10-0+deb13u1 |
| sid | Fixed | 18.4-1 |
| forky | Fixed | 18.4-1 |
| bullseye | Affected | — |
| bookworm | Fixed | 15.18-0+deb12u1 |
Application impact
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql | postgresql | {"endExcluding":"14.23"} | 14.23 |
| postgresql | postgresql | {"startIncluding":"15.0","endExcluding":"15.18"} | 15.18 |
| postgresql | postgresql | {"startIncluding":"16.0","endExcluding":"16.14"} | 16.14 |
| postgresql | postgresql | {"startIncluding":"17.0","endExcluding":"17.10"} | 17.10 |
| postgresql | postgresql | {"startIncluding":"18.0","endExcluding":"18.4"} | 18.4 |
References
CWEs
CWE-385
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.