For example: UPDATE table1 SET status='expired' WHERE id in (SELECT wrong_id IN table2)
This will update every row in table1if wrong_id doesn't exist, ignoring the ERROR: column "wrong_id" does not exist from the subquery.
The subquery never provokes that error by virtue of the fact it is a subquery. It's only if you run that as a standalone query do you see the error. This is because correlated subqueries are a thing (and, yes, they are documented).
I may have mis-read your email...the behavior I describe is usually what prompts these kinds of questions but your example doesn't actually fit the pattern. I find it hard to believe that what you describe is really happening...though usually with IN clauses the presence of NULLs can confound things.
You should put together a self-contained reproducer script and post it as a bug report once you've confirmed it produces the problem you describe while using psql and a current version of PostgreSQL.
