Vulnerability Note VU#602457

MySQL fails to properly validate COM_TABLE_DUMP packets

Overview

MySQL contains a buffer overflow that may allow a remote, authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable server.

I. Description

MySQL and COM_TABLE_DUMP

MySQL is an open-source database system available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and other UNIX-based operating systems. Command packets are sent to the MySQL server to issue instructions to that server. One such command packet type is COM_TABLE_DUMP, which the MySQL Internals Manual describes as:

COM_TABLE_DUMP (used by slave server to get master table)

The Problem

MySQL fails to properly validate user-controlled parameters within COM_TABLE_DUMP packets. If an attacker sends a series of specially crafted COM_TABLE_DUMP packets to a vulnerable MySQL server, that attacker may be able to cause a buffer overflow.

Considerations

Some level of authentication is needed to exploit this vulnerability. Exploit code for this vulnerability is publicly available

II. Impact

A remote, authenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on a MySQL server.

III. Solution

Upgrade

This issue is corrected in MySQL versions 4.0.27, 4.1.19, 5.0.21, and 5.1.10. Refer to the MySQL downloads page to get the appropriate updated version.

Disable anonymous access to MySQL

Although disabling anonymous access to MySQL does not prevent attacks from occurring, it does prevent unauthenticated users from attempting to exploit the vulnerability.

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
MySQL AB	Vulnerable	5-May-2006
Red Hat, Inc.	Not Vulnerable	17-May-2006

References

http://secunia.com/advisories/19929/
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/news-4-0-27.html
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/news-4-1-19.html
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/news-5-0-21.html
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/news-5-1-10.html
http://downloads.mysql.com/docs/internals-en.pdf

Credit

This vulnerability was reported by Stefano Di Paola.

This document was written by Jeff Gennari.

Other Information

Date Public:	2006-05-02
Date First Published:	2006-05-05
Date Last Updated:	2006-05-17
CERT Advisory:
CVE-ID(s):	CVE-2006-1518
NVD-ID(s):	CVE-2006-1518
US-CERT Technical Alerts:
Metric:	12.33
Document Revision:	31

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Produced 2006 by US-CERT, a government organization
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