CVE-2016-5628 in MySQL Server
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle MySQL 5.7.13 and earlier allows remote administrators to affect availability via vectors related to Server: DML.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/27/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-5628 represents a critical availability issue within Oracle MySQL database systems affecting versions 5.7.13 and earlier. This flaw resides within the Server component of MySQL and specifically pertains to Data Manipulation Language operations, making it particularly dangerous for database administrators who rely on consistent system availability. The unspecified nature of the vulnerability description suggests that the exact technical mechanism remains undisclosed, which is common with certain types of denial of service flaws that could potentially be exploited for broader system compromise.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through remote administrative access points, meaning that an attacker with sufficient privileges or through a compromised administrative account could trigger conditions that lead to system unavailability. This represents a significant concern for database environments where administrators maintain remote access capabilities, as the flaw specifically targets the server-side DML processing mechanisms that handle data manipulation operations. The vulnerability's classification as affecting availability rather than confidentiality or integrity indicates that successful exploitation would result in denial of service conditions rather than data breaches or unauthorized access to information.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses substantial risk to database availability and business continuity. When exploited, the flaw could cause database servers to become unresponsive or crash entirely, leading to service interruptions that could affect multiple applications and users dependent on the database infrastructure. The impact extends beyond simple downtime as database administrators may need to perform emergency restarts or recovery procedures, potentially resulting in data inconsistency issues or extended service restoration times. Organizations running affected MySQL versions face significant operational risk, particularly those with mission-critical database systems where uptime is essential for business operations.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of broader attack surface management and privilege control strategies. The fact that this affects remote administrators suggests that proper access controls and network segmentation become critical defensive measures. Organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring solutions to detect unusual patterns in database server behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with attack patterns described in the attack tree framework where adversaries seek to compromise system availability through database server manipulation, potentially escalating to more severe impacts when combined with other vulnerabilities in the system. According to CWE classification, this would fall under availability-related weaknesses that could be categorized as CWE-400 or related to resource management failures in database systems. Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of affected MySQL versions, implementation of strict administrative access controls, network segmentation to limit remote administrative access, and enhanced monitoring for abnormal database server behavior. Organizations should also consider implementing database activity monitoring tools that can detect anomalous DML operations that might indicate exploitation attempts, while maintaining comprehensive backup and recovery procedures to minimize impact during potential exploitation events.