ComfyUI unauthenticated RCE, pgAdmin popen breakout, and an Ansible auth bypass walk into a Friday

When gnome-remote-desktop runs in system mode with RDP enabled on RHEL, an unauthenticated attacker can flood the RDP listener with parallel pre-authentication connections. The connection throttler is bypassed entirely, so the attacker can exhaust sockets and pending operations until legitimate users can't connect. This is a denial-of-service bug, not code execution, and only affects the Red Hat-shipped version, not upstream.

Affected estate

RHEL sysadmins running gnome-remote-desktop in system mode with RDP enabled

How to check

Run `rpm -q gnome-remote-desktop` to check the installed version and `systemctl status gnome-remote-desktop` to confirm the service is active in system mode.

Included because

unauthenticated; network-reachable; denial of service; RHEL-specific

Action

Update gnome-remote-desktop via `dnf update gnome-remote-desktop` and restrict RDP listener access with firewall rules.

Why it matters

An unauthenticated attacker can lock out all legitimate RDP users by exhausting connection resources.

Source

Red Hat advisory

If you use pgAdmin 4's MASTER_PASSWORD_HOOK with the %u username placeholder, an authenticated user whose name comes from an external auth source (OAuth, OIDC, Kerberos, webserver) can inject shell metacharacters into their username and run arbitrary commands as the pgAdmin service account. The bug is in shell=True execution with unsanitized input. You're only vulnerable if MASTER_PASSWORD_HOOK is configured and uses %u.

Affected estate

Anyone running pgAdmin 4 versions 7.2 through 9.16 with MASTER_PASSWORD_HOOK configured using the %u placeholder, especially with external authentication

How to check

Check your pgAdmin version in the UI (Help > About) or via `pgadmin4 --version`. Search your pgAdmin config for MASTER_PASSWORD_HOOK containing %u.

Included because

authenticated RCE; external auth usernames are attacker-controlled; common admin tool

Action

Upgrade pgAdmin 4 to 9.17+ and refactor any MASTER_PASSWORD_HOOK that relies on shell features (pipes, redirection, globbing) into a wrapper script.

Why it matters

An authenticated user with a crafted username can run arbitrary OS commands as the pgAdmin service account.

Source

pgAdmin project advisory

pgAdmin 4's Import/Export Data tool lets an authenticated user with the common tools_import_export_data permission inject a psql TO PROGRAM clause, which runs arbitrary OS commands via popen(). The bug is a logic flaw in the parenthesis-balance checker that validates user-supplied SQL: it misinterprets backslash escaping under modern PostgreSQL's default settings, so a crafted query slips past the check and breaks out of the \copy wrapper. CVSS 9.9. This is the same class of bug as CVE-2025-12762 and CVE-2025-13780, just in a different module.

Affected estate

Anyone running pgAdmin 4 with Import/Export Data functionality, up to version 9.17

How to check

Check your pgAdmin version in the UI (Help > About) or via `pgadmin4 --version`. Any version before 9.18 with Import/Export Data enabled is vulnerable.

Included because

CVSS 9.9; authenticated RCE; commonly granted permission; same bug class already exploited in prior CVEs

Action

Upgrade pgAdmin 4 to 9.18+ immediately. As a temporary mitigation, revoke the tools_import_export_data role from non-essential users.

Why it matters

Any authenticated user with a commonly granted permission can execute arbitrary OS commands as the pgAdmin service account.

Source

pgAdmin project advisory

ComfyUI v0.23.0 has an unauthenticated remote code execution bug. An attacker can upload a malicious pickle file through the unauthenticated /upload/image endpoint, then trigger deserialization by queuing a workflow that references it. torch.load runs the pickle's __reduce__ method, giving the attacker full code execution as the ComfyUI process user. No authentication required at any step.

Affected estate

Anyone running ComfyUI v0.23.0, especially instances exposed to the network or internet

How to check

Check your ComfyUI version in the UI footer or in the project's version file. Confirm whether the /upload/image endpoint is reachable without authentication.

Included because

unauthenticated; RCE; CVSS 9.8; no user interaction required; internet-facing risk

Action

Update ComfyUI to a version newer than v0.23.0. If no fix is available, firewall the instance or place it behind an authenticating reverse proxy immediately.

Why it matters

An unauthenticated attacker can get full remote code execution with zero user interaction by uploading a crafted file and triggering a workflow.