A flaw was found in PostgreSQL involving the pg_cancel_backend role that signals background workers, including the logical replication launcher, autovacuum workers, and the autovacuum launcher. Successful exploitation requires a non-core extension with a less-resilient background worker and would affect that specific background worker only. This issue may allow a remote high privileged user to launch a denial of service (DoS) attack.
CVE-2023-5870
“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS score.
This medium-severity CVE scores 4.4 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 2.6% (85th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs). GitHub Security Advisory CVSS 2.2 is lower than this score; a lower GitHub score revises it only when its advisory is newer than the CVE record's last change, and this advisory (published 2023-12-10) is not newer than that change (2026-06-17), so it does not.
Also known asEUVD-2023-58144 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-5gp7-j4r7-g66f (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD
- Lower severity and no public exploit yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 4.4
- EG Score
- 4.4MEDIUMmedium confidence
- EG Risk
- 21EG Risk 21/100
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.
How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)Severity44% × 45%Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 4.4 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.Exploitation2.6% × 40%FIRST EPSS: the 30-day exploitation probability when EchelonGraph scored this CVE.Automatability0% × 15%CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at every mission impact level.Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines. - EPSS PROB
- 2.6%
- EPSS %ILE
- 85th
- KEV
- Not listed
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (4.4): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 4.4 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 4.4 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.NVD CVSS v3 · CVSS v3.0 or v3.1
- EG Likelihood
- 2.6% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-25). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it
Published
December 10, 2023
Last Modified
June 17, 2026
References (27)
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7545Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7579Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7580Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7581Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7616Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7656Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7666Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7667Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7694Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7695Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7714Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7770Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7772Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7784
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7785
15 of 27 shown · show the other 12
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7883
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7884
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:7885
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:0304
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:0332
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2024:0337
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-5870Third Party Advisory
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2247170Issue Tracking
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://www.postgresql.org/about/news/postgresql-161-155-1410-1313-1217-and-1122-released-2749/Release Notes
- secalert@redhat · CVE Programhttps://www.postgresql.org/support/security/CVE-2023-5870/Vendor Advisory
- CVE Programhttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/11/msg00007.html
- CVE Programhttps://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240119-0003/
Vendor Advisories for CVE-2023-5870(8)
These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.
- CVE-2023-5870Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)Medium
Postgresql: role pg_signal_backend can signal certain superuser processes.
- RHSA-2023:7772Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: rh-postgresql13-postgresql security update
- RHSA-2023:7695Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: postgresql:13 security update
- RHSA-2023:7694Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: postgresql:12 security update
- RHSA-2023:7666Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: postgresql:12 security update
- RHSA-2023:7667Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: postgresql:12 security update
- RHSA-2023:7580Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: postgresql:13 security update
- RHSA-2023:7545Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: postgresql security update
Patch Availability(24)
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Affected Packages
(15 across 11 ecosystems)
Alpine:v3.17(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql14 | — |
| — |
| postgresql15 | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.18(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql14 | — |
| — |
| postgresql15 | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.19(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql15 | — |
| — |
| postgresql16 | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.20(2)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql15 | — |
| — |
| postgresql16 | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.15(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql14 | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.16(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql14 | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.21(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql16 | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.22(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql16 | — |
| — |
Debian:10(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql-11 | 11.10-0+deb10u1 ... 11.9-0+deb10u1 (22 versions) |
| — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql-13 | 13.10-0+deb11u1 ... 13.9-0+deb11u1 (12 versions) |
| — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| postgresql-15 | 15.3-0+deb12u1 ... 15.4-3 (6 versions) |
| — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Additional Vendor Advisories
(17)
Vendors that published advisories for this CVE beyond the curated set above. Broader coverage but minimal per-row detail — click through for the original advisory.
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7579LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7579 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7581LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7581 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7616LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7616 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7656LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7656 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7714LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7714 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7770LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7770 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7784LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7784 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7785LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7785 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7883LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7883 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7884LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7884 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2023:7885LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2023:7885 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2024:0304LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2024:0304 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2024:0332LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2024:0332 — Low
- Red HatRHSA-2024:0337LOW2023-11-09
RHSA-2024:0337 — Low
- UbuntuUSN-6538-1MEDIUM
PostgreSQL vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-6538-2MEDIUM
PostgreSQL vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-6570-1MEDIUM
PostgreSQL vulnerabilities
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 37× in last 30d)
Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.
Showing the most recent 93 of 202 refreshes on record for this CVE.
A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. 7 repeat rows among the latest 100 are merged into the row they repeat. The 109 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.
- 2026-11-01 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 85th percentile
- 2026-10-31 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 85th percentile
- 2026-10-30 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 85th percentile
- 2026-10-29 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 85th percentile
- 2026-10-28 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-27 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-26 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-25 17:26 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-25 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-25 09:24 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-25 09:24 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-25 09:24 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-5gp7-j4r7-g66f · GitHub severity LOW · GitHub CVSS 2.2
- 2026-10-24 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-23 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-22 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-21 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-20 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-19 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-18 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-18 07:39 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-16 16:36 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-15 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-14 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-13 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
Show 68 moreShow fewer
- 2026-10-12 18:11 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-12 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-12 12:24 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-10-11 21:36 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 13:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-10 19:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-09 20:05 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-08 17:06 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-07 23:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-06 15:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-05 17:41 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-04 23:20 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-03 14:23 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-01 19:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-30 16:38 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-09-30 15:01 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-29 15:17 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-28 13:49 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-26 00:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-23 13:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-22 14:16 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-09-20 20:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-18 19:26 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-16 14:06 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-16 05:11 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-15 03:08 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-12 14:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-11 14:51 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-11 09:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-08 21:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-07 15:59 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-05 15:26 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-04 13:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-04 05:04 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-03 11:29 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-09-02 14:10 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-01 13:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-01 04:36 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-30 19:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-30 01:20 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-28 21:39 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-27 14:23 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-26 14:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-25 13:47 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-23 00:17 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-21 23:47 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-20 22:53 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-19 17:02 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-18 13:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-17 00:25 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-16 14:54 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-16 02:12 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-15 01:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-13 21:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-12 13:49 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-11 13:40 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-10 23:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-09 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-08 16:35 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-07 16:25 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-05 19:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-04 10:36 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-03 10:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-02 02:25 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-01 19:06 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-01 04:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.6% · 83rd percentile
Related CVEs(same product + same vendor + same CWE)
Same product
10 shownAlpine:v3.19:postgresql16 · Debian:10:postgresql-11
Same vendor
8 shownredhat:RHSA-2023:7545 · redhat:RHSA-2023:7785
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2023-5870?
When was CVE-2023-5870 made public?
Is CVE-2023-5870 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-5870?
How do I remediate CVE-2023-5870?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2023-5870
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2023-5870?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.