Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2017-3238: Oracle MySQL and MariaDB denial of service in Server Optimizer

CVE-2017-3238 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.5 · Published 2017-01-27

Technologies: Oracle MySQL Server. Vendors: MariaDB Foundation, Oracle.

Executive brief

A vulnerability in the MySQL and MariaDB database servers could allow an attacker to crash the database service. This affects the Optimizer component, which is responsible for determining the most efficient way to execute SQL queries. An exploit could lead to a complete denial of service, causing applications relying on the database to become unavailable.

Technical details

This vulnerability is located in the 'Server: Optimizer' subcomponent of MySQL and MariaDB. It is classified as an 'easily exploitable' flaw that allows a low-privileged attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise the server's availability. The root cause is not publicly detailed beyond its location in the query optimizer, but the impact is a complete denial of service (hang or crash). The issue was addressed in MySQL versions 5.5.54, 5.6.35, and 5.7.17, and MariaDB versions 5.5.54, 10.0.29, and 10.1.21.

Affected products

  • Oracle MySQL Server 5.5.53 and earlier, 5.6.34 and earlier, 5.7.16 and earlier
  • MariaDB Foundation MariaDB 5.5.0 to 5.5.53, 10.0.0 to 10.0.28, 10.1.0 to 10.1.20

Timeline

  • 2017-01-17: advisory: Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) released
  • 2017-01-19: patched: Debian released security update for mysql-5.5 (DSA 3767-1)
  • 2017-01-22: patched: Debian released security update for mariadb-10.0 (DSA 3770-1)
  • 2017-01-27: disclosed: NVD publication date

References

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