CVE-2025-2291 | PgBouncer default auth_query does not take Postgres password expiry into account

Password can be used past expiry in PgBouncer due to auth_query not taking into account Postgres its VALID UNTIL value, which allows an attacker to log in with an already expired password

Published: 2025-04-16 Last update: 2025-12-08 Assigner: f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007 Source: f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-2291 is rated Low Risk (38.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2025-2291

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 2026-05-26 0.25% 0.06% -0.19%
2 2026-05-25 0.30% 0.25% -0.06%
3 2026-02-10 — 0.30% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-2291

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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: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: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.
 2.2 5.9 f86ef6dc-4d3a-42ad-8f28-e6d5547a5007
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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: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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-2291

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-2291

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2025-2291: 1 source package rows (pgbouncer); 6 state rows across 2 repos (3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 0, open 6. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2025-2291
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-2291 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (pgbouncer), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-2291
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-2291 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (pgbouncer), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 6, ignored 2, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-2291

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-2291

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
pgbouncer pgbouncer < 1.24.1 cpe:2.3:a:pgbouncer:pgbouncer:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-2291

cvelogic Threat Intelligence