Ignore attempts to \gset into specially treated variables.
authorNoah Misch <noah@leadboat.com>
Mon, 9 Nov 2020 15:32:09 +0000 (07:32 -0800)
committerNoah Misch <noah@leadboat.com>
Mon, 9 Nov 2020 15:32:13 +0000 (07:32 -0800)
commita498db87be103f93856dd515a574b2d67d3c1237
treeccd9d8ac42f9af53011de7faf8784828256b4e9e
parentf97ecea1ed7b09c6f1398540a1d72a57eee70c9f
Ignore attempts to \gset into specially treated variables.

If an interactive psql session used \gset when querying a compromised
server, the attacker could execute arbitrary code as the operating
system account running psql.  Using a prefix not found among specially
treated variables, e.g. every lowercase string, precluded the attack.
Fix by issuing a warning and setting no variable for the column in
question.  Users wanting the old behavior can use a prefix and then a
meta-command like "\set HISTSIZE :prefix_HISTSIZE".  Back-patch to 9.5
(all supported versions).

Reviewed by Robert Haas.  Reported by Nick Cleaton.

Security: CVE-2020-25696
src/bin/psql/common.c
src/bin/psql/variables.c
src/bin/psql/variables.h
src/test/regress/expected/psql.out
src/test/regress/sql/psql.sql