The DuckDB AWS extension for DuckDB contains a security policy bypass vulnerability that allows any database user with SQL execution permissions to extract plaintext AWS credentials by calling the load_aws_credentials function with the redact_secret parameter set to false, circumventing the database-wide allow_unredacted_secrets=false policy. Attackers can invoke this single function to retrieve the underlying AWS credential chain including access_key_id, secret_access_key, session_token, and region in plaintext, which are immediately valid against AWS APIs and particularly impactful in managed environments where pg_duckdb is preloaded and an AWS credential chain such as IMDSv2, IRSA, ECS task role, or EC2 instance role is reachable.
Attack Parameters
Attack Vector
Network
Can be exploited remotely
Attack Complexity
Low
Easy to exploit
Attack Requirements
Present
Additional conditions required
Privileges Required
Low
Basic privileges needed
User Interaction
None
No user interaction needed
Impact Assessment
Confidentiality
High
Complete data leak
Integrity
None
No data modification
Availability
None
No disruption
CVSS Vector v4.0