dbcve.org
MySQLDatabase / datastore · Oracle

CVE-2004-0957

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-02-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Unknown vulnerability in MySQL 3.23.58 and earlier, when a local user has privileges for a database whose name includes a "_" (underscore), grants privileges to other databases that have similar names, which can allow the user to conduct unauthorized activities.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

This is a privilege escalation vulnerability in MySQL 3.23.58 and earlier where database names containing underscores are not properly handled in GRANT statements. The underscore character in SQL LIKE patterns matches any single character, so a user with privileges on 'test_db' could potentially grant privileges on similarly-named databases like 'testdb' due to improper escaping of the underscore wildcard in privilege checks.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched MySQL version (4.0+ with patches) or later. As a defensive measure, audit existing database names and privilege grants to identify and remediate any underscore-related privilege inconsistencies.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
MySQLDatabase / datastore
Affected:= 3.20= 3.20.32a= 3.21= 3.22= 3.22.26= 3.22.27= 3.22.28= 3.22.29= 3.22.30= 3.22.32= 3.23= 3.23.2
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 3.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 3.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 4.1
OpenpkgApplication
Affected:= 2.1= 2.2= current
Suse LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 8.1= 8.2= 9.0= 9.1= 9.2
Secure LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 1.5= 2.0= 2.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed MySQL version
    Run 'mysql --version' or 'mysqld --version' from command line, or query: SELECT VERSION();
    Affected if Version is 3.23.58 or earlier, or matches any 3.20.x, 3.21.x, 3.22.x, or 3.23.x version from the affected list
  2. Identify databases containing underscores
    Connect to MySQL and run: SHOW DATABASES; then review the list for any database names containing an underscore character (_)
    Affected if Any database name contains an underscore character
  3. Review user privileges on underscore databases
    Connect to MySQL and run: SHOW GRANTS FOR 'username'@'host'; for each user, check if they have privileges on databases with underscores in the name
    Affected if Users have privileges on databases with underscore names and the MySQL version is in the affected range
  4. Check for similarly-named databases without underscores
    Compare database names like 'test_db' and 'testdb' or 'my_app' and 'myapp' to see if privilege grants on the underscore version could inadvertently affect the non-underscore version
    Affected if Both underscore and non-underscore versions of similar database names exist and grants exist on the underscore version

You are affected if running MySQL 3.23.58 or earlier and you have database names containing underscores with user privileges assigned to them.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched MySQL version (4.0+ with patches) or later. As a defensive measure, audit existing database names and privilege grants to identify and remediate any underscore-related privilege inconsistencies.

Fix this in MySQL Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0957 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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