When PgBouncer is configured to use "cert" authentication, a man-in-the-middle attacker can inject arbitrary SQL queries when a connection is first established, despite the use of TLS certificate verification and encryption. This flaw affects PgBouncer versions prior to 1.16.1.

The remote Debian 11 host has a package installed that is affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the dla-4180 advisory.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------     Debian LTS Advisory DLA-4180-1                debian-lts@lists.debian.org     https://www.debian.org/lts/security/                   Andreas Henriksson     May 27, 2025                                  https://wiki.debian.org/LTS
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Package        : pgbouncer     Version        : 1.15.0-1+deb11u1     CVE ID         : CVE-2021-3935 CVE-2025-2291     Debian Bug     : 1103394

    PgBouncer is a lightweight connection pooler for PostgreSQL.

    CVE-2021-3539

        When PgBouncer is configured to use cert authentication, a         man-in-the-middle attacker can inject arbitrary SQL queries when a         connection is first established, despite the use of TLS certificate         verification and encryption. This flaw affects PgBouncer versions prior to         1.16.1.

    CVE-2025-2291

        Password can be used past expiry in PgBouncer due to auth_query not taking         into account Postgres its VALID UNTIL value, which allows an attacker to         log in with an already expired password

    For Debian 11 bullseye, these problems have been fixed in version     1.15.0-1+deb11u1.

    We recommend that you upgrade your pgbouncer packages.

    For the detailed security status of pgbouncer please refer to     its security tracker page at:
    https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/pgbouncer

    Further information about Debian LTS security advisories, how to apply     these updates to your system and frequently asked questions can be     found at: https://wiki.debian.org/LTS     Attachment:
    signature.asc     Description: PGP signature

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Debian security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

There are packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability referenced in the following CVE:

  - When PgBouncer is configured to use "cert" authentication, a man-in-the-middle attacker can inject
    arbitrary SQL queries when a connection is first established, despite the use of TLS certificate
    verification and encryption. This flaw affects PgBouncer versions prior to 1.16.1. (CVE-2021-3935)

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - When PgBouncer is configured to use cert authentication, a man-in-the-middle attacker can inject     arbitrary SQL queries when a connection is first established, despite the use of TLS certificate     verification and encryption. This flaw affects PgBouncer versions prior to 1.16.1. (CVE-2021-3935)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

An update of the pgbouncer package has been released.

The remote Debian 9 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the dla-2922 advisory.

    It was found that PgBouncer, a PostgreSQL connection pooler, was susceptible to an arbitrary SQL injection     attack if a man-in-the-middle could inject data when a connection using certificate authentication is     established. For Debian 9 stretch, this problem has been fixed in version 1.7.2-2+deb9u1. We recommend     that you upgrade your pgbouncer packages. For the detailed security status of pgbouncer please refer to     its security tracker page at: https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/pgbouncer Further information     about Debian LTS security advisories, how to apply these updates to your system and frequently asked     questions can be found at: https://wiki.debian.org/LTS

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Debian security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
237294	Debian dla-4180 : pgbouncer - security update	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high
427401	Alpine: multiple pgbouncer packages: security update to 1.16.1-r0	Tenable Cloud Security	Alpine Linux Local Security Checks	high
427401	Alpine: multiple pgbouncer packages: security update to 1.16.1-r0	Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security	Alpine Linux Local Security Checks	high
224061	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2021-3935	Nessus	Misc.	high
203450	Photon OS 4.0: Pgbouncer PHSA-2022-4.0-0267	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	high
406288	Alpine: multiple pgbouncer packages: security update to 1.16.1-r0	Tenable Cloud Security	Alpine Linux Local Security Checks	high
406288	Alpine: multiple pgbouncer packages: security update to 1.16.1-r0	Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security	Alpine Linux Local Security Checks	high
158045	Debian DLA-2922-1 : pgbouncer - LTS security update	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high

Detections

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CVE-2021-3935

high

Tenable Plugins

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high

high

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high

high

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high