CVE-2023-25149 TimescaleDB has incorrect access control
Attackers can escalate privileges by exploiting insecure search_path in TimescaleDB telemetry jobs during installation, requiring specific user permissions.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2023-25149?
CVE-2023-25149 is a high-severity vulnerability in timescaledb, published on 14 Feb 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
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.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-25149?
1 open source package ship an affected version, including timescaledb. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
timescaledb Bitnami | From 2.8.0 | 2.9.2 |
Products include Timescale Timescaledb.
How do I fix CVE-2023-25149?
Upgrade timescaledb to 2.9.2 or later.
Is CVE-2023-25149 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-25149 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in timescaledb
- CVE-2026-29089 TimescaleDB uses untrusted search path during extension upgrade
- CVE-2022-24128 Privilege escalation in n/a
- CVE-2026-70634 TimescaleDB 2.29.1 Out-of-Bounds Read Information Disclosure via Dictionary Compression Reverse Iterator
- CVE-2026-70633 TimescaleDB 2.29.1 Out-of-Bounds Read DoS via Gorilla Compression Reverse Iterator
- CVE-2026-70635 TimescaleDB 2.29.1 Out-of-Bounds Read DoS via Bulk Dictionary Decompression Negative Index
Sources
Also known as BIT-timescaledb-2023-25149, GHSA-44jh-j22r-33wq.