CVE-2016-0605 in MySQL Server
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle MySQL 5.6.26 and earlier allows remote authenticated users to affect availability via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/05/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-0605 represents a critical availability threat within Oracle MySQL database systems, specifically affecting versions 5.6.26 and earlier. This issue resides within the database management system's core functionality and manifests through unspecified attack vectors that can be exploited by authenticated remote users. The vulnerability's classification as unspecified indicates that the exact technical mechanisms enabling the attack were not fully disclosed in the initial advisory, which is common for certain types of availability-related flaws that may involve complex internal system interactions. Such vulnerabilities typically exploit weaknesses in the database's resource management, connection handling, or internal processing logic that can lead to system instability or complete service disruption.
The technical nature of this vulnerability suggests it operates within the MySQL server's processing pipeline where authenticated users can manipulate database operations to trigger system-level failures. Given that the attack requires authentication, it indicates that the flaw likely exists in the server's response handling or resource allocation mechanisms when processing legitimate user requests. This type of vulnerability often stems from inadequate input validation, improper resource cleanup, or flawed error handling routines that can be exploited through carefully crafted database operations. The unspecified nature of the vectors points toward potential issues in the server's internal state management or memory handling processes that can be manipulated to cause denial of service conditions.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to database availability and business continuity for organizations relying on affected MySQL versions. The ability of authenticated users to impact availability means that both legitimate database users and potential attackers with valid credentials can disrupt database services, potentially leading to extended downtime, data access interruptions, and service degradation. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption to potentially affect the entire database infrastructure, as availability issues in database systems can cascade to application servers and dependent services that rely on database connectivity for their operations. Organizations may experience financial losses due to service interruptions, increased operational overhead during incident response, and potential compliance violations if service level agreements are breached.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected MySQL installations to address this vulnerability and ensure continued database availability. The recommended mitigation strategy involves upgrading to MySQL versions that have been patched to address this specific flaw, typically through Oracle's regular security updates or by applying the specific patches released for this vulnerability. System administrators should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit the number of authenticated users who can reach database servers, reducing the attack surface for potential exploitation. Additionally, monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect unusual database behavior patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts, including monitoring for connection spikes, resource consumption anomalies, or unexpected server restarts that could indicate successful exploitation of the availability flaw.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which covers "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption," and represents a specific instance of how database systems can be made vulnerable to availability attacks through internal processing flaws. The attack pattern corresponds to techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under the "Denial of Service" category, where adversaries leverage system weaknesses to disrupt service availability. The vulnerability demonstrates how even authenticated access can be weaponized to cause system-wide availability issues, highlighting the importance of comprehensive security testing that includes availability-focused attack scenarios. Organizations should conduct regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify similar weaknesses in their database environments, particularly focusing on resource management and error handling routines that could be exploited to cause service disruption.