Privilege escalation in Timescale Timescaledb
CVE-2023-25149
TimescaleDB, an open-source time-series SQL database, has a privilege escalation vulnerability in versions 2.8.0 through 2.9.2. During installation, TimescaleDB creates a telemetry job that is runs as the installation user. The queries run as part of the telemetry data collection were not run with a locked down `search_path`, allowing malicious users to create functions that would be executed by the telemetry job, leading to privilege escalation. In order to be able to take advantage of this vulnerability, a user would need to be able to create objects in a database and then get a superuser to install TimescaleDB into their database. When TimescaleDB is installed as trusted extension, non-superusers can install the extension without help from a superuser. Version 2.9.3 fixes this issue. As a mitigation, the `search_path` of the user running the telemetry job can be locked down to not include schemas writable by other users. The vulnerability is not exploitable on instances in Timescale Cloud and Managed Service for TimescaleDB due to additional security provisions in place on those platforms.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.008 (54.3th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 54th percentile — 54.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.008 · newest: 0.008 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Timescale Timescaledb — versions >= 2.8.0, < 2.9.3
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- github.com/timescale/timescaledb/security/advisories/GHSA-44jh-j22r-33wq (Third Party Advisory, Mitigation)
- github.com/timescale/timescaledb/pull/5259 (Patch)
- github.com/timescale/timescaledb/releases/tag/2.9.3 (Release Notes)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-25149?
- CVE-2023-25149 is a high-severity vulnerability in Timescale Timescaledb, classified under Improper Access Control. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2023-02-14.
- How severe is CVE-2023-25149?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.