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MySQLDatabase / datastore · Oracle

CVE-2016-6662

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-09-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.5.51 / 10.0.27 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Oracle MySQL through 5.5.52, 5.6.x through 5.6.33, and 5.7.x through 5.7.15; MariaDB before 5.5.51, 10.0.x before 10.0.27, and 10.1.x before 10.1.17; and Percona Server before 5.5.51-38.1, 5.6.x before 5.6.32-78.0, and 5.7.x before 5.7.14-7 allow local users to create arbitrary configurations and bypass certain protection mechanisms by setting general_log_file to a my.cnf configuration. NOTE: this can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with root privileges by setting malloc_lib. NOTE: the affected MySQL version information is from Oracle's October 2016 CPU. Oracle has not commented on third-party claims that the issue was silently patched in MySQL 5.5.52, 5.6.33, and 5.7.15.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-264

A legacy NVD category covering weaknesses where permissions or privileges are assigned, checked, or dropped incorrectly, so an action ends up running with more access than it should. It is an umbrella label from older records, not a single flaw. The remedy depends on the specific case, but the throughline is least privilege with explicit, checked transitions wherever privilege changes.

General guidance for the permissions, privileges & access controls class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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:>= 5.5.0, <= 5.5.52>= 5.6.0, <= 5.6.33>= 5.7.0, <= 5.7.15
MariaDBDatabase / datastore
Affected:>= 5.5.20, < 5.5.51>= 10.0.0, < 10.0.27>= 10.1.0, < 10.1.17
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
OpenstackApplication
Affected:= 5.0= 6.0= 7.0= 8= 9
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.3= 7.4= 7.6

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.5.51 / 10.0.27 / 10.1.17 or later
Fixed in 5.5.5110.0.2710.1.17
Vendor patch www.oracle.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

MySQL 5.5.53+/5.6.34+/5.7.16+ or MariaDB 5.5.51+/10.0.27+/10.1.17+

  1. 1. Identify the exact MySQL or MariaDB version currently installed using: `mysql --version` or `mysqld --version`
  2. 2. For MySQL users: Upgrade to MySQL 5.5.53 or higher, 5.6.34 or higher, or 5.7.16 or higher
  3. 3. For MariaDB users: Upgrade to MariaDB 5.5.51 or higher, 10.0.27 or higher, or 10.1.17 or higher
  4. 4. On Linux distributions (Debian, RHEL, CentOS): Run `yum update mysql` or `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade mysql-server` as appropriate for your distribution
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the new version is running: `mysql --version`
  6. 6. Restart the MySQL/MariaDB service: `systemctl restart mysql` or `systemctl restart mariadb`
  7. 7. Review MySQL configuration files (my.cnf) to ensure no malicious configurations were added by an attacker
Caveat Upgrading MySQL may require configuration adjustments and testing of applications due to potential changes in default settings and behavior between minor versions

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,300. Get the upgrade done

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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-2016-6662 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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