CVE-2021-20229 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Postgresql

A flaw was found in PostgreSQL in versions before 13.2. This flaw allows a user with SELECT privilege on one column to craft a special query that returns all columns of the table. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2025-11-21	0.17%	0.11%	-0.06%
2	2025-11-18	0.08%	0.17%	+0.09%
3	2025-03-30	—	0.08%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2025-11-21

0.17%

0.11%

-0.06%

2025-11-18

0.08%

0.17%

+0.09%

2025-03-30

—

0.08%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
4.3	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N` 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:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	2.8	1.4	[email protected]
4.0	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:L) Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable. Authentication (AU:S) A single authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:N) No integrity impact. Availability impact (A:N) No availability impact.	8.0	2.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

4.3

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N 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:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L): Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

2.8

1.4

[email protected]

4.0

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L): Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S): A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N): No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N): No availability impact.

8.0

2.9

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-20229

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	medium	CVE-2021-20229: 4 source package rows (postgresql, postgresql13, postgresql14, postgresql15); 33 state rows across 11 repos (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 14.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-20229
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2021-20229 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-2021-20229
`gentoo`	low	CVE-2021-20229: 1 GLSA(s) (202105-32), 1 atom(s) (dev-db/postgresql); latest impact low.	https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2021-20229
`redhat`	low	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-20229
`suse`	medium	CVE-2021-20229 severity moderate: SUSE including 476 source package names (10.19:libpq5-13.2-5.6.1, 12-5.1:libpq5-13.2-5.6.1, …), 915 product×package rows across 81 product lines (Container suse/postgres, Container trento/trento-db, … (81 product lines)): Known Not Affected 393, Fixed 291, Known Affected 231.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-20229/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2021-20229 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (postgresql-13), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 5, released 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-20229

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-20229

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
postgresql	postgresql	>= 13.0, < 13.2	cpe:2.3:a:postgresql:postgresql::::::::
redhat	software_collections	—	cpe:2.3:a:redhat:software_collections:-:::::::*
redhat	enterprise_linux	7.0	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:::::::*
redhat	enterprise_linux	8.0	cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:::::::*
fedoraproject	fedora	33	cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:::::::*

References for CVE-2021-20229

URL	Tags
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1925296	Issue Tracking Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-32	Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210326-0005/	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2021-20229

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-20229

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-20229

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-20229

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-20229

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-20229

References for CVE-2021-20229