# CVE-2021-3515: Command injection in pglogical

> An attacker with CREATEDB privileges can execute shell commands as the postgresql user by crafting a malicious database name in pglogical.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 Jun 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3515, GHSA-pg8h-w6r7-prw8, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-3515

## What is CVE-2021-3515?

CVE-2021-3515 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in pglogical, published on 1 Jun 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A shell injection flaw was found in pglogical in versions before 2.3.4 and before 3.6.26. An attacker with CREATEDB privileges on a PostgreSQL server can craft a database name that allows execution of shell commands as the postgresql user when calling pglogical.create_subscription().

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command), CWE-77 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3515?

It affects 1 product.


Products: 2ndquadrant Pglogical.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3515?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2021-3515 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3515 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3515 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3515 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in pglogical, published on 1 Jun 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3515 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: pglogical. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3515/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3515/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3515
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3515
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3515

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3515/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.