Moderate: mysql security update
Security Advisory: Moderate
Updated mysql packages that fix several security issues are now available
for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.
This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.
MySQL is a multi-user, multi-threaded SQL database server. It consists of
the MySQL server daemon (mysqld) and many client programs and libraries.
Multiple flaws were discovered in the way MySQL handled symbolic links to
tables created using the DATA DIRECTORY and INDEX DIRECTORY directives in
CREATE TABLE statements. An attacker with CREATE and DROP table privileges
and shell access to the database server could use these flaws to escalate
their database privileges, or gain access to tables created by other
database users. (CVE-2008-4098, CVE-2009-4030)
Note: Due to the security risks and previous security issues related to the
use of the DATA DIRECTORY and INDEX DIRECTORY directives, users not
depending on this feature should consider disabling it by adding
"symbolic-links=0" to the "[mysqld]" section of the "my.cnf" configuration
file. In this update, an example of such a configuration was added to the
default "my.cnf" file.
An insufficient HTML entities quoting flaw was found in the mysql command
line client's HTML output mode. If an attacker was able to inject arbitrary
HTML tags into data stored in a MySQL database, which was later retrieved
using the mysql command line client and its HTML output mode, they could
perform a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against victims viewing the
HTML output in a web browser. (CVE-2008-4456)
Multiple format string flaws were found in the way the MySQL server logged
user commands when creating and deleting databases. A remote, authenticated
attacker with permissions to CREATE and DROP databases could use these
flaws to formulate a specially-crafted SQL command that would cause a
temporary denial of service (open connections to mysqld are terminated).
(CVE-2009-2446)
Note: To exploit the CVE-2009-2446 flaws, the general query log (the mysqld
"--log" command line option or the "log" option in "my.cnf") must be
enabled. This logging is not enabled by default.
All MySQL users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which
contain backported patches to resolve these issues. After installing this
update, the MySQL server daemon (mysqld) will be restarted automatically.
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/docs/DOC-11259
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