CVE-2020-25696

A flaw was found in the psql interactive terminal of PostgreSQL in versions before 13.1, before 12.5, before 11.10, before 10.15, before 9.6.20 and before 9.5.24. If an interactive psql session uses \gset when querying a compromised server, the attacker can execute arbitrary code as the operating system account running psql. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Published: 2020-11-23 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-25696 is rated Moderate Risk (52.7/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.47%). Review affected assets and schedule 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-2020-25696

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 2026-01-10 0.20% 0.47% +0.27%
2 2025-12-28 0.27% 0.20% -0.07%
3 2025-12-27 — 0.27% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-25696

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.
 1.6 5.9 [email protected]
7.6 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C 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:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 4.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-25696

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-25696

vendor priority summary link
alpine high CVE-2020-25696: 4 source package rows (postgresql, postgresql12, postgresql14, postgresql15); 32 state rows across 13 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-community, 3.17-main, 3.18-community, 3.18-main, 3.19-community, 3.19-main, 3.20-community, 3.20-main, edge-community, edge-main); fixed 19, open 13. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-25696
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-25696 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (postgresql-13), 1 status rows across 1 suites (bullseye): resolved 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-25696
gentoo normal CVE-2020-25696: 1 GLSA(s) (202012-07), 1 atom(s) (dev-db/postgresql); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2020-25696
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-25696
suse high CVE-2020-25696 severity important: SUSE including 678 source package names (10.19:libpq5-13.1-5.3.15, 10.19:postgresql10-10.15-8.22.1, …), 1837 product×package rows across 109 product lines (Container suse/postgres, Container trento/trento-db, … (109 product lines)): Fixed 1088, Known Not Affected 518, Known Affected 231. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-25696/
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-25696 medium priority: Ubuntu including 5 source packages (postgresql-10, postgresql-12, postgresql-9.1, postgresql-9.3, postgresql-9.5), 80 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 70, released 7, deferred 1, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-25696

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-25696

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
postgresql postgresql >= 9.5.0, < 9.5.24 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql >= 9.6.0, < 9.6.20 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql >= 10.0, < 10.15 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql >= 11.0, < 11.10 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql >= 12.0, < 12.5 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
postgresql postgresql >= 13.0, < 13.1 cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-25696

cvelogic Threat Intelligence