CVE-2026-8178: Amazon Redshift JDBC Driver RCE Flaw

CVE-2026-8178 Overview

CVE-2026-8178 affects the Amazon Redshift Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) Driver in versions prior to 2.2.2. The driver loads and executes arbitrary classes when processing JDBC connection URL parameters under specific conditions. An attacker who can influence the connection URL can execute code in the application context, provided a suitable class is available on the application's classpath. The flaw is tracked under CWE-470: Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code, commonly known as unsafe reflection. Amazon addressed the issue in version 2.2.2 of the driver.

Critical Impact

Attackers controlling a JDBC connection URL can trigger arbitrary class instantiation, leading to code execution within the host application process.

Affected Products

• Amazon Redshift JDBC Driver versions prior to 2.2.2
• Java applications embedding the Redshift JDBC Driver where connection URLs are influenced by external input
• Data integration, business intelligence, and ETL tools bundling the vulnerable driver

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-05-08 - CVE-2026-8178 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
• 2026-05-12 - Last updated in NVD database
• Vendor disclosure published via AWS Security Bulletin 2026-028 and GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-wmmv-vvg5-993q

Technical Details for CVE-2026-8178

Vulnerability Analysis

The Amazon Redshift JDBC Driver parses connection URLs of the form jdbc:redshift://host:port/database?param=value. Under certain conditions, one or more of these parameters is treated as a fully qualified Java class name. The driver then loads that class from the classpath and instantiates it through reflection.

When the loaded class performs sensitive operations in its constructor, static initializer, or standard JavaBean setter methods, instantiation alone causes side effects. These side effects can include process execution, file writes, or network callbacks. The attacker does not need to ship the malicious class; reuse of an existing classpath gadget is sufficient.

Applications that build JDBC URLs from user input, configuration files retrieved from untrusted sources, or web request parameters expose this primitive to remote actors. The vulnerability falls into the unsafe reflection class of issues defined by CWE-470.

Root Cause

The driver fails to restrict which classes may be loaded based on user-supplied URL parameters. There is no allowlist of permitted class names, no type check against an expected interface before invocation, and no separation between configuration parameters and reflective lookup keys. Externally controlled input directly selects the code to execute.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires an attacker to influence the JDBC connection URL passed to DriverManager.getConnection() or an equivalent API. Common scenarios include multi-tenant data platforms that accept user-defined data source URLs, administrative interfaces that expose connection string fields, and applications that read URLs from configuration stores writable by lower-privileged users. Successful exploitation results in code execution in the context of the Java process loading the driver. See the GitHub release notes for v2.2.2 for the corrected behavior.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-8178

Indicators of Compromise

• JDBC connection strings containing unexpected parameter values that resolve to fully qualified Java class names
• Java processes embedding redshift-jdbc JAR files spawning child processes such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, /bin/sh, or bash
• Outbound network connections from application servers immediately after JDBC connection attempts to attacker-controlled hosts
• Application logs showing ClassNotFoundException or ClassCastException referencing arbitrary class names during connection setup

Detection Strategies

• Inventory all Java applications and identify those bundling redshift-jdbc42 or related artifacts at versions below 2.2.2
• Inspect application code paths that construct JDBC URLs from external input and flag any that pass through untrusted parameters
• Monitor for reflective class loading events originating from JDBC driver classes using Java instrumentation or runtime application self-protection tooling
• Review database access logs for unexpected source IP addresses initiating connections that fail authentication after URL parsing

Monitoring Recommendations

• Alert on Java application processes launching unexpected child processes, particularly shells or scripting interpreters
• Track egress traffic from middleware tiers to identify callbacks following connection URL parsing
• Centralize JVM and application logs and search for stack traces referencing Class.forName invoked from Redshift JDBC driver packages

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-8178

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade the Amazon Redshift JDBC Driver to version 2.2.2 or later in all applications, build pipelines, and container images
• Audit application code that constructs JDBC URLs and remove any path that incorporates untrusted input into connection parameters
• Rotate database credentials accessible to applications that may have processed attacker-controlled URLs
• Review classpath contents and remove unused libraries that could serve as reflective gadgets

Patch Information

Amazon released the fix in Amazon Redshift JDBC Driver version 2.2.2. Download the corrected artifact from the official GitHub release or update Maven and Gradle coordinates to pull the patched version. Refer to AWS Security Bulletin 2026-028 for vendor guidance and to GHSA-wmmv-vvg5-993q for the advisory text.

Workarounds

• Validate and allowlist JDBC URL parameters before passing them to DriverManager.getConnection() until the patched driver can be deployed
• Construct connection URLs from fixed templates and inject only typed values for host, port, and database name
• Run Java applications with a Java Security Manager policy or equivalent control that restricts reflective class loading where feasible

# Maven coordinate update to the patched driver version
mvn versions:use-dep-version \
  -Dincludes=com.amazon.redshift:redshift-jdbc42 \
  -DdepVersion=2.2.2 \
  -DforceVersion=true