CVE-2016-5424

PostgreSQL before 9.1.23, 9.2.x before 9.2.18, 9.3.x before 9.3.14, 9.4.x before 9.4.9, and 9.5.x before 9.5.4 might allow remote authenticated users with the CREATEDB or CREATEROLE role to gain superuser privileges via a (1) " (double quote), (2) \ (backslash), (3) carriage return, or (4) newline character in a (a) database or (b) role name that is mishandled during an administrative operation.

Published: 2016-12-09 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-5424 is rated Moderate Risk (63.1/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.65%, 91th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +2.98% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-5424

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 1.67% 4.65% +2.98%
2 2026-03-15 1.44% 1.67% +0.23%
3 2026-03-11 — 1.44% —

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-5424

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.2 5.9 [email protected]
4.6 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:H)
Exploitation requires uncommon or highly specific conditions.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.9 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-5424

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-5424

vendor priority summary link
gentoo normal CVE-2016-5424: 1 GLSA(s) (201701-33), 1 atom(s) (dev-db/postgresql); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-5424
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5424
suse medium CVE-2016-5424 severity moderate: SUSE including 65 source package names (libecpg6-32bit-9.5.4-1.2, libecpg6-9.4.9-0.19.1, …), 119 product×package rows across 20 product lines (SUSE Liberty Linux 7, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (20 product lines)): Fixed 117, Known Not Affected 2. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-5424/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-5424 medium priority: Ubuntu including 4 source packages (postgresql-8.4, postgresql-9.1, postgresql-9.3, postgresql-9.5), 24 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 14, released 7, ignored 1, needs-triage 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-5424

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-5424

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql <= 9.1.22 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.1 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.2 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.3 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.4 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.5 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.6 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.7 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.9 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.10 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.11 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.12 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.13 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.14 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.15 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.16 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.2.17 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.2.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.3 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.4 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.5 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.6 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.7 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.8 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.9 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.10 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.11 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.12 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.3.13 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.3.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.1 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.2 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.3 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.5 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.6 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.7 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.4.8 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.4.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.5 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql 9.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:9.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-5424

URL Tags
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1781.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1820.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-1821.html
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2606.html
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3646 Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/92435 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036617 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2425
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-33
https://www.postgresql.org/about/news/1688/ Patch Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/release-9-1-23.html Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/release-9-2-18.html Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/release-9-3-14.html Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/release-9-4-9.html Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/release-9-5-4.html Release Notes Vendor Advisory
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