Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2017-3291: Oracle MySQL and MariaDB privilege escalation in mysqld_safe ledir option

CVE-2017-3291 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.3 · Published 2017-01-27

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

Executive brief

A security vulnerability in the MySQL and MariaDB database management systems could allow a highly privileged local user to take full control of the database server. This issue stems from how the system handles configuration files during startup and maintenance. An exploit requires the attacker to already have significant access to the underlying server infrastructure and involves some level of interaction from another user, making it difficult to execute in practice.

Technical details

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the 'mysqld_safe' script within the Server: Packaging subcomponent of Oracle MySQL and MariaDB. The root cause is the script's improper handling of the 'ledir' option when specified in a MySQL configuration file. A local attacker with high privileges (such as the 'mysql' operating system user) who can modify configuration files can exploit this to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges to root. Exploitation is considered difficult as it requires local infrastructure access, high privileges, and human interaction from a person other than the attacker. The issue is resolved in MySQL versions 5.5.54, 5.6.35, 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 before 5.5.54, 10.0.0 before 10.0.29, 10.1.0 before 10.1.21

Timeline

  • 2017-01-19: patched: Debian released fix for mysql-5.5
  • 2017-01-22: patched: Debian released fix for mariadb-10.0
  • 2017-01-27: advisory: NVD publication date

References

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