CVE-2021-23214 SQL injection in postgresql

High 8.1 Published 4 Mar 2022 Updated 3 Aug 2024

Man-in-the-middle attackers can inject arbitrary SQL queries during connection establishment in PostgreSQL when using specific trust or cert authentication modes.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2021-23214?

CVE-2021-23214 is a high-severity SQL injection vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 4 Mar 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

When the server is configured to use trust authentication with a clientcert requirement or to use cert authentication, a man-in-the-middle attacker can inject arbitrary SQL queries when a connection is first established, despite the use of SSL certificate verification and encryption.

Weakness: CWE-89

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-23214?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including postgresql. It affects 6 products.

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`postgresql` Bitnami	All versions	`9.6.24, 10.19.0, 11.14.0, 12.9.0, 13.5.0, 14.0.1`

Linux distribution packages (39)

`postgresql` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-contrib` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-docs` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-plperl` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-plpython3` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-pltcl` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-server` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-server-devel` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-static` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-test` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-test-rpm-macros` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-upgrade` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql-upgrade-devel` AlmaLinux:8	All versions	`10.19-1.module_el8.6.0+2744+ce3fc19a`
`postgresql` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-contrib` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-contrib-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-debugsource` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-docs` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-docs-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-plperl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-plperl-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-plpython3` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-plpython3-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-pltcl` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-pltcl-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-server` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-server-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-server-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-server-devel-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-static` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-test` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-test-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-test-rpm-macros` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-upgrade` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-upgrade-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-upgrade-devel` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql-upgrade-devel-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+13642+78853f5a`
`postgresql` Rocky Linux:8	All versions	`0:10.19-1.module+el8.6.0+802+f92d3c38`

Products include Fedoraproject Fedora, Postgresql Postgresql, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux for Ibm Z Systems, Redhat Enterprise Linux for Power Little Endian, Redhat Software Collections.

How do I fix CVE-2021-23214?

Upgrade postgresql to a fixed version for your release line: 9.6.24, 10.19.0, 11.14.0 or 12.9.0.

Use parameterised queries everywhere and never build SQL by joining strings. Upgrade affected software first; a web application firewall only buys time. More about SQL injection.

Is CVE-2021-23214 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-23214 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Fedoraproject Fedora vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2021-23214, ALSA-2022:1830, AZL-8973, BIT-postgresql-2021-23214, CLEANSTART-2026-WT68849, CLSA-2022-1657814447 and 8 more.