# [CRIT] [GHSA / CRITICAL] CVE-2026-8178: Amazon Redshift Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via Unsafe Class Loading

**Source:** GitHub Security Advisories
**Published:** 2026-05-14
**Article:** https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-wmmv-vvg5-993q

## Threat Profile

Amazon Redshift Vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via Unsafe Class Loading

### Summary
Amazon Redshift JDBC Driver is a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs). An issue exists in versions prior to 2.2.2 where the driver could load arbitrary classes when processing certain connection URL parameters, potentially allowing code execution in the application context.

### Impact
When a JDBC connection URL contains certa…

## Indicators of Compromise (high-fidelity only)

- **CVE:** `CVE-2026-8178`

## MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

- **T1190** — Exploit Public-Facing Application
- **T1203** — Exploitation for Client Execution
- **T1059.007** — Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript

## Kill chain phases observed

_(none detected from narrative keywords)_

## Recommended hunts

### Vulnerable Amazon Redshift JDBC Driver (CVE-2026-8178) inventory hunt — redshift-jdbc42 < 2.2.2

`UC_306_1` · phase: **recon** · confidence: **High** · AI-generated for this article

**Splunk SPL (CIM):**
```spl
| tstats summariesonly=true count, min(_time) as firstSeen, max(_time) as lastSeen from datamodel=Vulnerabilities.Vulnerabilities where Vulnerabilities.cve="CVE-2026-8178" OR (Vulnerabilities.signature="*redshift-jdbc42*" AND Vulnerabilities.signature!="*2.2.2*" AND Vulnerabilities.signature!="*2.2.3*" AND Vulnerabilities.signature!="*2.2.4*" AND Vulnerabilities.signature!="*2.2.5*" AND Vulnerabilities.signature!="*2.2.6*") by Vulnerabilities.dest, Vulnerabilities.signature, Vulnerabilities.severity, Vulnerabilities.category | `drop_dm_object_name(Vulnerabilities)` | convert ctime(firstSeen) ctime(lastSeen)
```

**Defender KQL:**
```kql
// CVE-2026-8178 — vulnerable redshift-jdbc42 inventory
let vuln_kb = DeviceTvmSoftwareVulnerabilities
    | where TimeGenerated > ago(1d) // Defender column = Timestamp; replaced below
    | where CveId == "CVE-2026-8178";
DeviceTvmSoftwareVulnerabilities
| where Timestamp > ago(1d)
| where CveId == "CVE-2026-8178"
   or (SoftwareVendor =~ "amazon" and SoftwareName has "redshift" and SoftwareName has "jdbc"
        and SoftwareVersion !startswith "2.2.2" and SoftwareVersion !startswith "2.2.3"
        and SoftwareVersion !startswith "2.2.4" and SoftwareVersion !startswith "2.2.5"
        and SoftwareVersion !startswith "2.2.6")
| join kind=leftouter (DeviceInfo | where Timestamp > ago(1d) | summarize arg_max(Timestamp,*) by DeviceId | project DeviceId, OSPlatform, IsInternetFacing, MachineGroup) on DeviceId
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, OSPlatform, IsInternetFacing, MachineGroup,
          SoftwareVendor, SoftwareName, SoftwareVersion,
          VulnerabilitySeverityLevel, RecommendedSecurityUpdate, CveId
| order by IsInternetFacing desc, VulnerabilitySeverityLevel asc
```

### CVE-2026-8178 exploit attempt: Redshift JDBC URL with class-loading parameter (socketFactory/sslfactory/sslhostnameverifier/sslpasswordcallb

`UC_306_2` · phase: **exploit** · confidence: **High** · AI-generated for this article

**Splunk SPL (CIM):**
```spl
(`tstats` summariesonly=true count, min(_time) as firstSeen, max(_time) as lastSeen, values(Processes.process) as cmdline, values(Processes.parent_process_name) as parent from datamodel=Endpoint.Processes where (Processes.process_name IN ("java.exe","javaw.exe","java")) (Processes.process="*jdbc:redshift*" OR Processes.process="*JDBC:redshift*") (Processes.process="*socketFactory=*" OR Processes.process="*sslfactory=*" OR Processes.process="*sslhostnameverifier=*" OR Processes.process="*sslpasswordcallback=*") by Processes.dest, Processes.user, Processes.process_name | `drop_dm_object_name(Processes)`) | append [| tstats summariesonly=true count, min(_time) as firstSeen, max(_time) as lastSeen, values(Web.url) as url from datamodel=Web.Web where (Web.url="*jdbc%3Aredshift*" OR Web.url="*jdbc:redshift*") (Web.url="*socketFactory*" OR Web.url="*sslfactory*" OR Web.url="*sslhostnameverifier*" OR Web.url="*sslpasswordcallback*") by Web.src, Web.dest, Web.http_user_agent | `drop_dm_object_name(Web)`] | convert ctime(firstSeen) ctime(lastSeen)
```

**Defender KQL:**
```kql
// CVE-2026-8178 — Redshift JDBC URL carrying class-loading params
let jdbc_pivot = dynamic(["jdbc:redshift","jdbc%3Aredshift"]);
let vuln_params = dynamic(["socketFactory=","sslfactory=","sslhostnameverifier=","sslpasswordcallback="]);
DeviceProcessEvents
| where Timestamp > ago(7d)
| where FileName in~ ("java.exe","javaw.exe") or InitiatingProcessFileName in~ ("java.exe","javaw.exe")
| extend cmd = strcat(tolower(ProcessCommandLine), " || ", tolower(InitiatingProcessCommandLine))
| where cmd has_any (jdbc_pivot)
| where cmd has_any (vuln_params)
| project Timestamp, DeviceName, AccountName,
          ParentImage = InitiatingProcessFileName,
          ParentCmd   = InitiatingProcessCommandLine,
          ChildImage  = FileName,
          ChildCmd    = ProcessCommandLine,
          SHA256
| order by Timestamp desc
```

### IOC-driven hunts (use shared templates)

These are standard IOC-substitution hunts — the canonical SPL and KQL live once in [`_TEMPLATES.md`](../_TEMPLATES.md), so we don't repeat the same boilerplate on every CVE / hash / network-IOC briefing.

- **Asset exposure — vulnerability matches article CVE(s)** ([template](../_TEMPLATES.md#asset-exposure)) — phase: **recon**, confidence: **High**
  - CVE(s): `CVE-2026-8178`


## Why this matters

Severity classified as **CRIT** based on: CVE present, 3 use case(s) fired, 3 technique(s) inferred. Read the full article for actor attribution, tooling details, and any defanged IOCs in the body that aren't visible in the RSS summary.