Software Engineering Institute

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

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

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.