CVE-2026-6478
PostgreSQL discloses MD5-hashed passwords via covert timing channel
6.5
MEDIUM
CVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.56%
Description
Covert timing channel in comparison of MD5-hashed password in PostgreSQL authentication allows an attacker to recover user credentials sufficient to authenticate. This does not affect scram-sha-256 passwords, the default in all supported releases. However, current databases may have MD5-hashed passwords originating in upgrades from PostgreSQL 13 or earlier. Versions before PostgreSQL 18.4, 17.10, 16.14, 15.18, and 14.23 are affected.
How to fix CVE-2026-6478
To remediate CVE-2026-6478, upgrade the affected package to a fixed version below.
- —upgrade to 14.23.0 or later
Is CVE-2026-6478 being exploited?
Low — EPSS is 0.6%, meaning exploitation activity has not been observed at scale.
Affected packages (1)
- from 0, < 14.23.0, >= 15.0.0, < 15.18.0, >= 16.0.0, < 16.14.0, >= 17.0.0, < 17.10.0, >= 18.0.0, < 18.4.0
CVSS scores
| Source | Version | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| osv | CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM6.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N |