A malicious PgHero user can use the EXPLAIN functionality to extract data from the database. With certain inputs, a user can get the results of a query to appear in an error message. If the PgHero database user has superuser privileges (not recommended), the user can use file access functions to read files on the database server.

The PgHero dashboard is vulnerable to CSRF with non-session based authentication methods.

Impact

The PgHero dashboard is vulnerable to cross-site request forgery (CSRF). This affects the Docker image, Linux packages, and in specific cases, the Ruby gem. The Ruby gem is vulnerable with non-session based authentication methods like basic authentication - session-based authentication methods (like Devise's default authentication) are not affected.

A CSRF attack works by getting an authorized user to visit a malicious website and then performing requests on behalf of the user. In this instance, actions include:

1. Canceling running queries
2. Running EXPLAIN on queries (without seeing the results, but can be used for denial of service and other attacks)
3. Resetting query stats (running pg_stat_statements_reset())