1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory
| Advisory Reference | GLSA 200409-02 / MySQL |
| Release Date | September 01, 2004 |
| Latest Revision | September 01, 2004: 01 |
| Impact | normal |
| Exploitable | local |
| Package | Vulnerable versions | Unaffected versions | Architecture(s) |
| dev-db/mysql | <= 4.0.20 | >= 4.0.20-r1 | All supported architectures |
Related bugreports: #60744
The mysqlhotcopy utility can create temporary files with predictable paths, allowing an attacker to use a symlink to trick MySQL into overwriting important data.
MySQL is a popular open-source multi-threaded, multi-user SQL database server.
Jeroen van Wolffelaar discovered that the MySQL database hot copy utility (mysqlhotcopy.sh), when using the scp method, uses temporary files with predictable names. A malicious local user with write access to the /tmp directory could create a symbolic link pointing to a file, which may then be overwritten. In cases where mysqlhotcopy is run as root, a malicious user could create a symlink to a critical file such as /etc/passwd and cause it to be overwritten.
A local attacker could use this vulnerability to destroy other users' data or corrupt and destroy system files, possibly leading to a denial of service condition.
There is no known workaround at this time.
All MySQL users should upgrade to the latest version:
Code Listing 3.1: Resolution |
# emerge sync # emerge -pv ">=dev-db/mysql-4.0.20-r1" # emerge ">=dev-db/mysql-4.0.20-r1" |