Security
Security
Two MySQL utilities create temporary files with hardcoded paths, allowing an attacker to use a symlink to trick MySQL into overwriting important data.
| Package | dev-db/mysql on all architectures |
|---|---|
| Affected versions | < 4.0.18-r2 |
| Unaffected versions | >= 4.0.18-r2 |
MySQL is a popular open-source multi-threaded, multi-user SQL database server.
The MySQL bug reporting utility (mysqlbug) creates a temporary file to log bug reports to. A malicious local user with write access to the /tmp directory could create a symbolic link of the name mysqlbug-N pointing to a protected file, such as /etc/passwd, such that when mysqlbug creates the Nth log file, it would end up overwriting the target file. A similar vulnerability exists with the mysql_multi utility, which creates a temporary file called mysql_multi.log.
Since mysql_multi runs as root, a local attacker could use this to destroy any other users' data or corrupt and destroy system files.
One could modify both scripts to log to a directory that users do not have write permission to, such as /var/log/mysql/.
All users should upgrade to the latest stable version of MySQL.
# emerge sync # emerge -pv ">=dev-db/mysql-4.0.18-r2" # emerge ">=dev-db/mysql-4.0.18-r2"
Release date
May 25, 2004
Latest revision
May 25, 2004: 01
Severity
normal
Exploitable
local
Bugzilla entries