High severity · published Apr 29, 2026
CVE-2026-42198
pgjdbc: Unbounded PBKDF2 iterations in SCRAM authentication allows CPU exhaustion DoS
7.5
CVSS
3.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)3.3% · higher than 88% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
PG
pgjdbc · pgjdbc
>= 42.2.0, < 42.7.11 · source: vendor
PJ
Postgresql Jdbc Driver · Postgresql
42.2.0 before 42.7.11 · source: NVD
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support Long-Life Add-On · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Telecommunications Update Service · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Update Services for SAP Solutions · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42198
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-42198
Release Notes
https://github.com/pgjdbc/pgjdbc/releases/tag/REL42.7.11
Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/pgjdbc/pgjdbc/security/advisories/GHSA-98qh-xjc8-98pq
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19098
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22304
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24348
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25030
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