Executive brief
pgAdmin 4 is a popular management tool for PostgreSQL databases. A security flaw in its Large Language Model (LLM) integration allows authenticated users to read sensitive files from the server's filesystem or force the server to make unauthorized requests to internal network services. This could lead to the exposure of configuration secrets, system credentials, or access to private cloud metadata services.
Technical details
The vulnerability exists in the LLM provider client configuration where 'api_key_file' and 'api_url' parameters are processed without adequate validation. An authenticated attacker can exploit the LFI by setting 'api_key_file' to an arbitrary path, allowing them to read any file accessible by the pgAdmin process. Additionally, the SSRF vulnerability allows attackers to manipulate 'api_url' to probe internal network targets or access cloud metadata services (e.g., 169.254.169.254) via the chat and model-list endpoints. The fix implemented in version 9.15 restricts file access to specific user directories, enforces a 1024-byte read limit, and introduces an allow-list for API URLs.
Affected products
- PostgreSQL pgAdmin 4 >= 9.13, < 9.15
Timeline
- 2026-05-01: disclosed: Issue reported on GitHub
- 2026-05-11: advisory: CVE published and NVD entry created
- 2026-05-11: patched: Fixed in version 9.15