PostgreSQL 10.x before 10.1, 9.6.x before 9.6.6, 9.5.x before 9.5.10, 9.4.x before 9.4.15, 9.3.x before 9.3.20, and 9.2.x before 9.2.24 runs under a non-root operating system account, and database superusers have effective ability to run arbitrary code under that system account. PostgreSQL provides a script for starting the database server during system boot. Packages of PostgreSQL for many operating systems provide their own, packager-authored startup implementations. Several implementations use a log file name that the database superuser can replace with a symbolic link. As root, they open(), chmod() and/or chown() this log file name. This often suffices for the database superuser to escalate to root privileges when root starts the server.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
References
History
Thu, 15 Oct 2026 17:30:00 +0000
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ssvc
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: redhat
Published: 2017-11-22T19:00:00.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-15T15:51:56.380Z
Reserved: 2017-08-01T00:00:00.000Z
Link: CVE-2017-12172
Updated: 2024-08-05T18:28:16.655Z
Status : Modified
Published: 2017-11-22T19:29:00.223
Modified: 2026-10-15T16:17:26.737
Link: CVE-2017-12172