---
title: "CVE-2026-44477: CloudNativePG's metrics exporter allows privilege escalation to PostgreSQL superuser and OS RCE"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-44477/
description: "CVE-2026-44477 (github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg (Go)): CloudNativePG is a platform designed to manage PostgreSQL databases within Kubernetes…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2026-05-28
date_modified: 2026-07-15
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2026-44477"
kev: false
cvss: 9.4
epss: 0.00515
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2026-44477: CloudNativePG's metrics exporter allows privilege escalation to PostgreSQL superuser and OS RCE

**Signal:** Critical, preconditions apply. Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 0.5% , percentile 43: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 43% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Needs an account (low (any account)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg (Go) < 1.28.3, fixed in 1.28.3 ; github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg (Go) >= 1.29.0, < 1.29.1, fixed in 1.29.1 . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

CloudNativePG is a platform designed to manage PostgreSQL databases within Kubernetes environments. Prior to 1.29.1 and 1.28.3, the CloudNativePG metrics exporter opens its PostgreSQL connection as the postgres superuser via the pod-local Unix socket, then demotes the session with SET ROLE pgmonitor. SET ROLE changes only currentuser; sessionuser remains postgres. Any SQL expression evaluated inside the scrape session can invoke RESET ROLE to recover real superuser privileges, then use COPY ... TO PROGRAM to spawn an OS-level subprocess as the postgres user inside the primary pod. The READ ONLY transaction flag does not block this; it gates writes to database state, not external processes. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.29.1 and 1.28.3.

## Affected packages

- Go `github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg` < 1.28.3 → fixed: 1.28.3
- Go `github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg` >= 1.29.0, < 1.29.1 → fixed: 1.29.1

## Affected products (CVE record)

- cloudnative-pg cloudnative-pg: < 1.28.3, >= 1.29.0, < 1.29.1

## Severity

- GitHub_M CVSS 4.0: 9.4 `CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H`
- redhat-SADP CVSS 3.1: 8.8 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
- GitHub CVSS 4.0: 9.4 `CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none , automatable no , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.52% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 43.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-423p-g724-fr39](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-423p-g724-fr39)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2026-44477](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44477)
- [NVD entry CVE-2026-44477](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44477)
- [github.com](https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/security/advisories/GHSA-423p-g724-fr39)
- [github.com](https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/pull/10576)
- [access.redhat.com](https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-44477)
- [RHBZ#2482763](https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2482763)
- [security.access.redhat.com](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-44477.json)
- [github.com](https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/releases/tag/v1.28.3)
- [github.com](https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/releases/tag/v1.29.1)

---
Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-44477/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt