CVE-2023-22332VulnerabilityPublished 30 Jan 2023Updated 3 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-22332: Pgpool-II · Information Disclosure

Affects Pgpool-IISource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium : upgrade to 4.0.0 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 07:57 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 53% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 4.0.0

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Jan 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade Pgpool-II to 4.0.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PgPool Global Development Group Pgpool-II	Affected >=4.4.0 <=4.4.1 >=4.3.0 <=4.3.4 >=4.2.0 <=4.2.11 >=4.1.0 <=4.1.14 >=4.0.0 <=4.0.21 <4.0.0 <=4.0.21	Fixed in 4.0.0

AI-suggested

1. 2. Implement strict database user access controls, ensuring minimal privileges and segregating duties to limit the damage from compromised accounts. 3. Monitor database user activities and authentication logs for unusual access patterns or credential misuse. 4. Use network segmentation to isolate database middleware from less trusted network zones, reducing exposure to unauthorized users. 5. Employ strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) for database users to mitigate risk from credential theft. 6. Regularly audit and rotate database credentials to limit the window of opportunity for attackers. 7. Consider deploying intrusion detection systems (IDS) or anomaly detection tools tailored to database environments to detect exploitation attempts. 8. Educate database administrators and users about the risks of credential sharing and enforce policies against it. 9. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict Pgpool-II access to trusted hosts and users only, minimizing the attack surface.

Description

Information disclosure vulnerability exists in Pgpool-II 4.4.0 to 4.4.1 (4.4 series), 4.3.0 to 4.3.4 (4.3 series), 4.2.0 to 4.2.11 (4.2 series), 4.1.0 to 4.1.14 (4.1 series), 4.0.0 to 4.0.21 (4.0 series), All versions of 3.7 series, All versions of 3.6 series, All versions of 3.5 series, All versions of 3.4 series, and All versions of 3.3 series. A specific database user's authentication information may be obtained by another database user. As a result, the information stored in the database may be altered and/or database may be suspended by a remote attacker who successfully logged in the product with the obtained credentials.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized access to sensitive database credentials, which can lead to data breaches, unauthorized data manipulation, or denial of service through database suspension. Organizations with multi-tenant database environments or shared Pgpool-II instances are particularly vulnerable, as attackers can escalate privileges by harvesting credentials of other users. This can compromise confidentiality of sensitive business or personal data, violating GDPR and other data protection regulations. The disruption of database services can impact critical applications, causing operational downtime and financial losses. Additionally, the exposure of credentials increases the attack surface for lateral movement within corporate networks. Given the widespread use of PostgreSQL and Pgpool-II in European enterprises, especially in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government, the potential impact is significant. However, the requirement for prior authentication limits exploitation to insiders or compromised accounts, somewhat reducing the attack scope.

CWE-312Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere.
Implementation · System Configuration · Operation
When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to encrypt the data at rest.
Implementation · System Configuration · Operation
In some systems/environments such as cloud, the use of "double encryption" (at both the software and hardware layer) might be required, and the developer might be solely responsible for both layers, instead of shared responsibility with the administrator of the broader system/environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
V8.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Nov 2025, 00:09 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-312

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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