Bug 2568332 (CVE-2026-116239)

Summary: CVE-2026-116239 pgadmin4: pgAdmin: Privilege escalation via improper authentication source validation
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in pgAdmin. In server configurations with multiple authentication providers enabled, the application matches user sessions by username alone without verifying that the account corresponds to the authenticating provider. An authenticated attacker with valid external credentials, such as from Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or Kerberos, can exploit this issue to log into another user account with a matching username, including the built-in administrator account. This flaw leads to privilege escalation and unauthorized account takeover, exposing managed database connections and saved credentials.
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Bug Depends On: 2568973    
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-11-06 16:13:20 UTC 
In server mode pgAdmin 4 keeps an account per authentication source, so the same username can exist as, for example, an internal account and an LDAP account. After LDAP or Kerberos authenticated a user, pgAdmin chose the account to log in by username alone, or took the account Flask-Security's login form had looked up, without checking that it came from the source that authenticated the user. The session therefore belonged to another account, with its role, its servers and its saved database passwords:

- An LDAP or Kerberos user whose username matched an internal account was logged in as that internal account, including the administrator account created when pgAdmin is first set up.
- With internal authentication listed before LDAP or Kerberos in AUTHENTICATION_SOURCES, the login form's internal validation looks up the account whose email was typed and keeps it even though its password does not match. A Kerberos user could type another Kerberos user's principal and be logged in as that user, and an LDAP user could do the same with an LDAP account whose email is their username.

Exploitation requires valid credentials for an LDAP directory or Kerberos realm that pgAdmin is configured to use.

The fix looks the account up by the authenticated username and the source that authenticated it, and no longer uses the account the login form found for any source but internal authentication. Internal authentication logs in that account only if it is an internal account. Desktop mode is not affected.

This issue affects pgAdmin 4: before 9.19.