RHSA-2008:0364 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated mysql packages that fix various security issues and several bugs
are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

This update has been rated as having low security impact by the Red Hat
Security Response Team.

Description

MySQL is a multi-user, multi-threaded SQL database server. MySQL is a
client/server implementation consisting of a server daemon (mysqld), and
many different client programs and libraries.

MySQL did not require privileges such as "SELECT" for the source table in a
"CREATE TABLE LIKE" statement. An authenticated user could obtain sensitive
information, such as the table structure. (CVE-2007-3781)

A flaw was discovered in MySQL that allowed an authenticated user to gain
update privileges for a table in another database, via a view that refers
to the external table. (CVE-2007-3782)

MySQL did not require the "DROP" privilege for "RENAME TABLE" statements.
An authenticated user could use this flaw to rename arbitrary tables.
(CVE-2007-2691)

A flaw was discovered in the mysql_change_db function when returning from
SQL SECURITY INVOKER stored routines. An authenticated user could use this
flaw to gain database privileges. (CVE-2007-2692)

MySQL allowed an authenticated user to bypass logging mechanisms via SQL
queries that contain the NULL character, which were not properly handled by
the mysql_real_query function. (CVE-2006-0903)

MySQL allowed an authenticated user to access a table through a previously
created MERGE table, even after the user's privileges were revoked from
the original table, which might violate intended security policy. This is
addressed by allowing the MERGE storage engine to be disabled, which can
be done by running mysqld with the "--skip-merge" option. (CVE-2006-4031)

MySQL evaluated arguments in the wrong security context, which allowed an
authenticated user to gain privileges through a routine that had been made
available using "GRANT EXECUTE". (CVE-2006-4227)

Multiple flaws in MySQL allowed an authenticated user to cause the MySQL
daemon to crash via crafted SQL queries. This only caused a temporary
denial of service, as the MySQL daemon is automatically restarted after the
crash. (CVE-2006-7232, CVE-2007-1420, CVE-2007-2583)

As well, these updated packages fix the following bugs:

• a separate counter was used for "insert delayed" statements, which caused

rows to be discarded. In these updated packages, "insert delayed"
statements no longer use a separate counter, which resolves this issue.

• due to a bug in the Native POSIX Thread Library, in certain situations,

"flush tables" caused a deadlock on tables that had a read lock. The mysqld
daemon had to be killed forcefully. Now, "COND_refresh" has been replaced
with "COND_global_read_lock", which resolves this issue.

• mysqld crashed if a query for an unsigned column type contained a

negative value for a "WHERE [column] NOT IN" subquery.

• in master and slave server situations, specifying "on duplicate key

update" for "insert" statements did not update slave servers.

• in the mysql client, empty strings were displayed as "NULL". For

example, running "insert into [table-name] values (' ');" resulted in a
"NULL" entry being displayed when querying the table using "select * from
[table-name];".

• a bug in the optimizer code resulted in certain queries executing much

slower than expected.

• on 64-bit PowerPC architectures, MySQL did not calculate the thread stack

size correctly, which could have caused MySQL to crash when overly-complex
queries were used.

Note: these updated packages upgrade MySQL to version 5.0.45. For a full
list of bug fixes and enhancements, refer to the MySQL release notes:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/releasenotes-cs-5-0.html

All mysql users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which
resolve these issues.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-released
errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use
the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/FAQ_58_10188

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 5 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 194613 - CVE-2006-0903 Mysql log file obfuscation
• BZ - 202246 - CVE-2006-4031 MySQL improper permission revocation
• BZ - 216427 - CVE-2006-4227 mysql improper suid argument evaluation
• BZ - 232603 - CVE-2007-1420 Single MySQL worker can be crashed (NULL deref) with certain SELECT statements
• BZ - 240813 - CVE-2007-2583 mysql: DoS via statement with crafted IF clause
• BZ - 241688 - CVE-2007-2691 mysql DROP privilege not enforced when renaming tables
• BZ - 241689 - CVE-2007-2692 mysql SECURITY INVOKER functions do not drop privileges
• BZ - 248553 - CVE-2007-3781 CVE-2007-3782 New release of MySQL fixes security bugs
• BZ - 254012 - Mysql bug 20048: 5.0.22 FLUSH TABLES WITH READ LOCK bug; need upgrade to 5.0.23
• BZ - 256501 - mysql 5.0.22 still has a lot of bugs ; need upgrade
• BZ - 349121 - MySQL client will display empty strings as NULL (fixed in 5.0.23)
• BZ - 434264 - CVE-2006-7232 mysql: daemon crash via EXPLAIN on queries on information schema
• BZ - 435391 - mysql does not calculate thread stack size correctly for RHEL5

CVEs

• CVE-2006-0903
• CVE-2006-4031
• CVE-2006-4227
• CVE-2007-2692
• CVE-2007-2691
• CVE-2007-3782
• CVE-2007-3781
• CVE-2007-2583
• CVE-2006-7232
• CVE-2007-1420

References

• http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#low