CVE-2026-42198

pgjdbc: Unbounded PBKDF2 iterations in SCRAM authentication allows CPU exhaustion DoS

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: April 29, 2026 at 03:58 PM UTC
Updated: September 11, 2026 at 01:50 PM UTC
3 products affected across 3 vendorsPostgreSQL Jdbc DriverEnterprise LinuxPgJDBC

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

pgjdbc is an open source postgresql JDBC Driver. From version 42.2.0 to before version 42.7.11, pgjdbc is vulnerable to a client-side denial of service during SCRAM-SHA-256 authentication. A malicious server can instruct the driver to perform SCRAM authentication with a very large iteration count. With a large enough value, the client spends an unbounded amount of CPU time inside PBKDF2 before authentication can fail. A single attempt ties up a CPU core. Repeated or concurrent attempts exhaust client CPU and can wedge connection pools. In affected versions, loginTimeout did not fully mitigate this problem. When loginTimeout expired, the caller could stop waiting, but the worker thread performing the connection attempt could continue running and burning CPU inside the SCRAM PBKDF2 computation. This issue has been patched in version 42.7.11.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

42.2.0 ≤ v < 42.7.11
Affected range stops below 42.7.11, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 42.7.11
Affected range stops below 42.7.11, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.14-4.el8_10 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.14-5.el8_8.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.28-1.el9_2.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.28-1.el9_4.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.28-1.el9_6.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.28-2.el9_8.2 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.3-5.el8_6.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.2.3-7.el8_4.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.7.1-7.el10_0.1 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 0:42.7.2-1.el10_2.2 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (18)

x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/pgjdbc/pgjdbc/security/advisories/GHSA-98qh-xjc8-98pq
x_refsource_MISCRelease Notes
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/pgjdbc/pgjdbc/releases/tag/REL42.7.11
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19098
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22304
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24348
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25030
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-42198
Source: 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2463857

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-770

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