Symbolic-link path traversal (CWE-61, CWE-22) in pgAdmin 4 File Manager.
check_access_permission used os.path.abspath, which resolves '..' but does not resolve symbolic links, while the subsequent kernel write follows symlinks. An authenticated user could plant a symbolic link inside their own storage directory pointing outside it and induce pgAdmin to write to any path reachable by the pgAdmin process.
Fix switches the access check to os.path.realpath for both source and destination, and adds an _open_upload_target helper that opens the target with O_NOFOLLOW (mode 0o600) to close the leaf-component TOCTOU between the access check and the open. File mode is hardened from 0o644 to 0o600.
This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.15.
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 8.1
Authenticated pgAdmin user with file_manager access. Symlink escape allows file writes to any path the pgAdmin process can reach; S:U reflects that writes occur within the pgAdmin process's filesystem authority. Whether this constitutes privilege escalation to the host depends on how pgAdmin is deployed (which user it runs as, what files are reachable).
| Attack Vector |
Network |
Scope |
Unchanged |
| Attack Complexity |
Low |
Confidentiality Impact |
None |
| Privileges Required |
Low |
Integrity Impact |
High |
| User Interaction |
None |
Availability Impact |
High |
Authenticated pgAdmin user with file_manager access. Symlink escape allows file writes to any path the pgAdmin process can reach; S:U reflects that writes occur within the pgAdmin process's filesystem authority. Whether this constitutes privilege escalation to the host depends on how pgAdmin is deployed (which user it runs as, what files are reachable).
CVSS 3.1
CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS Score: 7.2
Authenticated pgAdmin user with file_manager access. Symlink escape allows file writes to any path the pgAdmin process can reach; S:U reflects that writes occur within the pgAdmin process's filesystem authority. Whether this constitutes privilege escalation to the host depends on how pgAdmin is deployed (which user it runs as, what files are reachable).
| Exploitability Metrics |
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics |
Subsequent System Impact Metrics |
| Attack Vector |
Network |
Confidentiality |
None |
Confidentiality |
None |
| Attack Complexity |
Low |
Integrity |
High |
Integrity |
None |
| Attack Requirements |
None |
Availability |
High |
Availability |
None |
| Privileges Required |
Low |
| User Interaction |
None |
Authenticated pgAdmin user with file_manager access. Symlink escape allows file writes to any path the pgAdmin process can reach; S:U reflects that writes occur within the pgAdmin process's filesystem authority. Whether this constitutes privilege escalation to the host depends on how pgAdmin is deployed (which user it runs as, what files are reachable).
CVSS 4.0