Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Creation/Truncation in Splunk Enterprise PostgreSQL Sidecar Service
CVE-2026-20253 is a critical missing-authentication vulnerability in the PostgreSQL sidecar service used by Splunk Enterprise 10.x. In affected releases, the PostgreSQL sidecar recovery endpoint does not enforce authentication, allowing any network-reachable attacker to invoke file-related operations without credentials. Splunk states that affected versions are Splunk Enterprise 10.2 prior to 10.2.4 and 10.0 prior to 10.0.7; Splunk Enterprise 9.4 and earlier are not affected. The vulnerable functionality is exposed through PostgreSQL sidecar recovery endpoints used for backup and restore operations, including paths such as /v1/postgres/recovery/backup and /v1/postgres/recovery/restore as proxied through Splunk Web. Public technical analysis indicates attacker-controlled parameters can be used to create or truncate arbitrary files on the underlying system, and the file-write primitive can be chained with PostgreSQL restore behavior and functions such as lo_export to achieve remote code execution as the Splunk service account.
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Impact
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Exploits
No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 3 candidates as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.
All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.
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Recent activity
168 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
An unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in Splunk Enterprise caused by exposure of PostgreSQL sidecar recovery functionality through Splunk Web, enabling proxy access to internal endpoints, arbitrary file creation/write, credential reuse via .pgpass, and eventual code execution.
An improper authentication vulnerability in the PostgreSQL sidecar service of Splunk Enterprise that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to create or truncate arbitrary files on affected systems.
A critical missing-authentication vulnerability in Splunk Enterprise affecting a PostgreSQL sidecar service endpoint, allowing unauthenticated attackers to create or truncate arbitrary files on affected systems.
A critical Splunk Enterprise vulnerability caused by missing authentication controls on a PostgreSQL sidecar service endpoint, allowing unauthenticated arbitrary file creation or truncation and potentially enabling remote code execution.
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