CVE-2010-0442
The bitsubstr function in backend/utils/adt/varbit.c in PostgreSQL 8.0.23, 8.1.11, and 8.3.8 allows remote authenticated users to cause a…
- 6.5MediumCVSS base score
- 13.3%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 3.6% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
The bitsubstr function in backend/utils/adt/varbit.c in PostgreSQL 8.0.23, 8.1.11, and 8.3.8 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) or have unspecified other impact via vectors involving a negative integer in the third argument, as demonstrated by a SELECT statement that contains a call to the substring function for a bit string, related to an "overflow."
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list an Exploit-DB entry for it.
Show the exploits1
Exploit-DB1 entry
- PostgreSQL - 'bitsubstr' Buffer Overflow (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 33571dos, linuxpublished 27 Jan 2010Verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By redhat
- 6 days later
· 6 days later
Published
- 15 years later
· 15 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | Medium6.5 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 13.3% · top 3.6% of all CVEs (10 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.5.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
26
- RHSA-2010:0427 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- 1023510 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACKx_transferred
- RHSA-2010:0428 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- DSA-2051 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- USN-933-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- 39820 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- [oss-security] 20100127 Re: CVE id request: postgresql bitsubstr overflow (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- ADV-2010-1221 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- 37973 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- http://git.postgresql.org/gitweb?p=postgresql.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=75dea10196c31d98d98c0bafeeb576ae99c09b12 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- http://intevydis.blogspot.com/2010/01/postgresql-8023-bitsubstr-overflow.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://git.postgresql.org/gitweb?p=postgresql.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=b15087cb39ca9e4bde3c8920fcee3741045d2b83 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- ADV-2010-1207 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=567058 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- ADV-2010-1022 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- [pgsql-hackers] 20100107 Re: Patch: Allow substring/replace() to get/set bit values (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- 39566 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=559259 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- postgresql-substring-bo(55902) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_XFx_transferred
- [pgsql-committers] 20100107 pgsql: Make bit/varbit substring() treat any negative length as meaning (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- RHSA-2010:0429 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATx_transferred
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:9720 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entrysignaturex_refsource_OVALx_transferred
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=559194 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- MDVSA-2010:103 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MANDRIVAx_transferred
- 39939 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- ADV-2010-1197 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2010-0473 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2010-0442)Record last updated .