CVE-2012-1702 in MySQL Server
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the Server component in Oracle MySQL 5.1.66 and earlier and 5.5.28 and earlier allows remote attackers to affect availability via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/22/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-1702 represents a critical availability risk within Oracle MySQL Server components affecting multiple version ranges including 5.1.66 and earlier, as well as 5.5.28 and earlier. This unspecified weakness resides within the server component of the MySQL database system, which serves as the primary interface for database operations and client connections. The vulnerability's classification as an availability impact means that successful exploitation could lead to service disruption or complete unavailability of the database server, affecting business continuity and data access operations for organizations relying on MySQL infrastructure. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability vectors indicates that the exact attack mechanisms remain undisclosed, making this particularly challenging for security teams to defend against without comprehensive understanding of potential exploitation paths.
The technical flaw manifests within the MySQL Server's handling of certain operations that may trigger unexpected behavior in the server process itself. Such vulnerabilities typically arise from improper input validation, memory management issues, or race conditions within the server code that processes client requests. The remote attack vector implies that adversaries can exploit this weakness from external network positions without requiring local system access or authentication credentials, significantly expanding the attack surface. This characteristic aligns with common patterns found in database server vulnerabilities where network-facing components can be manipulated through crafted requests or malformed data packets that cause the server to crash, hang, or otherwise become unresponsive to legitimate requests.
The operational impact of CVE-2012-1702 extends beyond simple service disruption to encompass broader business implications including potential data loss, extended downtime, and compromised service level agreements. Organizations utilizing affected MySQL versions face significant risk of unauthorized service interruption that could affect customer access, application performance, and overall system reliability. The vulnerability's presence in widely deployed database versions means that numerous enterprise environments, web applications, and cloud services could be impacted, particularly those with less frequent patching schedules or legacy system configurations. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in production environments where database availability is critical for business operations and where the attack surface includes publicly accessible database endpoints.
Security mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate attention through patch management processes and comprehensive system hardening measures. Organizations should prioritize updating to patched versions of MySQL Server that address the unspecified vulnerability, following Oracle's security advisory releases and applying patches according to established security protocols. Network segmentation and access control measures should be implemented to limit exposure of database servers to untrusted networks, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual patterns in database server behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's classification under potential availability impact aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499 which encompasses various methods of service disruption, and may relate to CWE categories involving resource exhaustion or system instability. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify unpatched systems and ensure comprehensive protection against similar threats that could exploit similar server-side weaknesses in database infrastructure components.