MySQL: Insecure temporary file creation in mysqlhotcopy

Background

MySQL is a popular open-source multi-threaded, multi-user SQL database server.

Description

Jeroen van Wolffelaar discovered that the MySQL database hot copy utility (mysqlhotcopy.sh), when using the scp method, uses temporary files with predictable names. A malicious local user with write access to the /tmp directory could create a symbolic link pointing to a file, which may then be overwritten. In cases where mysqlhotcopy is run as root, a malicious user could create a symlink to a critical file such as /etc/passwd and cause it to be overwritten.

Impact

A local attacker could use this vulnerability to destroy other users’ data or corrupt and destroy system files, possibly leading to a denial of service condition.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All MySQL users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge sync

 # emerge -pv ">=dev-db/mysql-4.0.20-r1"
 # emerge ">=dev-db/mysql-4.0.20-r1"