CVE-2020-1720: High severity ibm data risk manager vulnerability
A flaw was found in PostgreSQL's "ALTER ... DEPENDS ON EXTENSION", where sub-commands did not perform authorization checks. An authenticated attacker could use this flaw in certain configurations to perform drop objects such as function, triggers, et al., leading to database corruption.
Other sources
PostgreSQL could allow a remote authenticated attacker to bypass security restrictions, caused by improper authorization validation by the ALTER … DEPENDS ON EXTENSION sub-commands. By sending a specially-crafted request, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to drop any function, procedure, materialized view, index, or trigger under certain conditions.
— IBM
The ALTER ... DEPENDS ON EXTENSION sub-commands do not perform authorization checks. If one of the following prerequisites holds, an unprivileged user can exploit this to drop any function, procedure, materialized view, index, or trigger. The attack is possible if an administrator has installed an extension that unprivileged users can CREATE. The attack is also possible if an extension owner issues DROP EXTENSION predictably or can be convinced to issue DROP EXTENSION.
— Red Hat
Affected Software
Remediation
Patch Available
Event History
Parent advisories
This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2020-1720?
CVE-2020-1720 is a vulnerability found in PostgreSQL's ALTER ... DEPENDS ON EXTENSION sub-commands that allows an authenticated attacker to perform unauthorized drop objects leading to database corruption.
How severe is CVE-2020-1720?
CVE-2020-1720 is considered a high severity vulnerability with a severity score of 8.1 out of 10.
Which versions of PostgreSQL are affected by CVE-2020-1720?
Versions 12.2, 11.7, 10.12, and 9.6.17 of PostgreSQL are affected by CVE-2020-1720.
How can an attacker exploit CVE-2020-1720?
An authenticated attacker can exploit CVE-2020-1720 in certain configurations by using the ALTER ... DEPENDS ON EXTENSION command to drop objects such as functions and triggers, leading to database corruption.
What is the remedy for CVE-2020-1720?
To fix CVE-2020-1720, you should upgrade to PostgreSQL versions 12.3, 11.9, 10.15, or 9.6.20, depending on the affected version.