Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
AccessAuthenticate with FILE-privileged DB account
-
DeliveryWrite malicious .bash_profile via INTO OUTFILE to datadir home
-
ExploitAdmin opens interactive login shell for mysql account
-
ExecutionDot-file executes as mysql user
-
ImpactArbitrary code execution in mysql OS context
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Permission assignment review
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Affects only RPM-based MariaDB server installs (versions 10.6.1 up to the fixed releases) where the mysql service account was created with the database data directory as its home; Debian/Ubuntu packages are NOT affected because they use /nonexistent as the home. The attacker must hold a database account with the FILE privilege, which is required to write startup dot-files such as .bash_profile into that home directory. Exploitation is further gated by a required local administrator action: someone must open an interactive login shell for the mysql account (e.g. |
| Impact | CVSS base score is 8.4 (High) with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H, but the raw score overstates the realistic likelihood of exploitation. No EPSS probability, CISA KEV listing, or public exploit was provided in the input, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation. Multiple strong mitigating conditions gate this flaw: the attacker must already hold a DB account with the FILE privilege (reflected as PR:H - a high-privilege, trusted database user), the deployment must be an RPM-based install (Debian/Ubuntu packages are explicitly unaffected), and crucially an administrator must manually open an interactive login shell for the mysql account (UI:R), which is non-default behavior because the account's login shell is /sbin/nologin. There is also a notable tension in the signals: the vector is marked AV:N (the malicious dot-file can be written remotely via the DB connection using FILE privilege), yet the payload only executes through a subsequent LOCAL administrator action - so the network attack vector covers the file-write stage only, not the code-execution trigger. S:C and C/I/A:H are justified because a database-layer privilege is escalated into OS-level code execution as the mysql user (a different security authority). Net assessment: this is a legitimate privilege-escalation / sandbox-escape hardening fix, best treated as a targeted or insider-abuse escalation path rather than a mass-exploitable remote vulnerability; prioritize patching on RPM-based MariaDB hosts but it is not an emergency drop-everything issue absent any exploitation signal. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A malicious or compromised database user holding the FILE privilege uses a statement such as SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE to write a crafted .bash_profile into the mysql account's home directory, which on affected RPM installs is the database data directory. Later, when an administrator opens an interactive login shell for the mysql account (e.g. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 09, 2026
RPM-based MariaDB Server packages up to the fixed releases can create the mysql service account with the database data directory as its home, allowing a database user that holds the FILE privilege to write shell startup files such as .bash_profile there. Those files only execute if an administrator later opens an interactive login shell as the mysql account, overriding its usual /sbin/nologin shell, so real-world exploitation requires both a highly privileged database account and a non-default administrator action. No public exploit has been identified at the time of analysis, Debian/Ubuntu packages are not affected because they already use /nonexistent as the account home, and the CVSS base score of 8.4 overstates the realistic likelihood given the required preconditions.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade to MariaDB Server 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, or 13.0.2 as applicable; these releases contain the fix in the RPM packaging scripts. For RPM installs that cannot be upgraded immediately, manually correct the mysql account home directory to match the upstream commit, for example by running usermod -d /nonexistent mysql and verifying with getent passwd mysql; this is the exact compensating control added in commit d842d6e994a8b0d67c280bf785a11357d6b316a2, though it may affect any local tooling that incorrectly expects a real home directory and should be tested. Also reduce exposure by removing the FILE privilege from database users that do not explicitly need it, setting secure_file_priv to a restricted non-home directory where possible, ensuring the mysql account retains /sbin/nologin as its shell, and avoiding interactive login shells for the mysql service account; those measures limit the write and execution prerequisites without replacing the patch. Advisory and fix references: https://github.com/MariaDB/server/security/advisories/GHSA-m5gf-432r-g5jw and https://github.com/MariaDB/server/commit/d842d6e994a8b0d67c280bf785a11357d6b316a2, with release tags at the version URLs above.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 6 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
MariaDB Server is a community-developed fork of MySQL. The issue is a packaging/configuration weakness in RPM-based installs tracked as CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource): the RPM pre-install script created the mysql service account with --home set to the database data directory (%{mysqldatadir}) instead of a non-writable location. Because MariaDB's FILE privilege lets a database user write files on the database host under the server's OS permissions, a FILE-privileged database account could place startup dot-files such as .bash_profile or .bashrc into that home directory. Shell startup files are executed when a user opens an interactive login shell, so if an administrator runs su - mysql or sudo -u mysql -i and the account shell has been overridden from /sbin/nologin, the planted file could execute with the mysql OS account's privileges. The upstream fix changed the RPM script to create and modify the account with /nonexistent as the home directory, as shown in commit d842d6e994a8b0d67c280bf785a11357d6b316a2. The CVSS vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H reflects a network-vector issue that still requires high database privileges (PR:H) and a separate administrator interaction (UI:R); it should not be read as an unauthenticated remote exploit.
Know when MariaDB gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
FILE privilege is high-privilege DB access (PR:H); file-write is network-reachable but code execution requires an admin opening a login shell (UI:R), crossing DB-to-OS authority (S:C) with full impact as mysql.
Primary rating from Vendor (GitHub_M).
CVSS VectorVendor: GitHub_M
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. From 10.6.1 until 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2, MariaDB RPM packages created the dedicated mysql service account with the database data directory as its home directory. A database user with the FILE privilege could write startup dot-files such as .bash_profile into $HOME, and those files could execute when an administrator opened a login shell for the mysql account. Debian packages are not affected because they use /nonexistent as the account home. This issue is fixed in versions 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2.
Articles & Coverage 2
Technical POC Analysis
Evidence base: advisory GHSA-m5gf-432r-g5jw only.
Full technical POC analysis - root cause, step-by-step exploitation and patch breakdown - is part of the Pro and Business plans.
Executive ViewAI
MariaDB Server deployments on RPM-based Linux distributions - RHEL, CentOS, Rocky, AlmaLinux, Fedora and SUSE - carry a high-severity packaging weakness that could put the database host itself at risk, but only where an attacker already holds a highly privileged database account and an administrator later performs an unusual manual step. Debian- and Ubuntu-based estates are unaffected, so the practical exposure is confined to a subset of the server fleet and to environments where database administrators hold broad in-database privileges. Leadership should focus on the absence of a vendor-released patch and on driving tracked remediation to closure, rather than on immediate exploit pressure, since no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: revoke the FILE privilege from all database accounts lacking a documented business need; remove shell startup files (.bash_profile, .bashrc, .profile) from the mysql home directory and the database data directory; confirm the mysql service account is configured with /sbin/nologin and that no interactive login as that account is possible; restrict and monitor privileged database account usage; and on hosts that can be rebuilt, reprovision the mysql service account with a home directory outside the data directory rather than patching in place.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
Oracle MySQL through 5.5.52, 5.6.x through 5.6.33, and 5.7.x through 5.7.15; MariaDB before 5.5.51, 10.0.x before 10.0.2
MySQL 5.5.19 and possibly other versions, and MariaDB 5.5.28a and possibly other versions, when configured to assign the
The dtls1_reassemble_fragment function in d1_both.c in OpenSSL before 0.9.8za, 1.0.0 before 1.0.0m, and 1.0.1 before 1.0
OpenSSL before 0.9.8za, 1.0.0 before 1.0.0m, and 1.0.1 before 1.0.1h does not properly restrict processing of ChangeCiph
sql/password.c in Oracle MySQL 5.1.x before 5.1.63, 5.5.x before 5.5.24, and 5.6.x before 5.6.6, and MariaDB 5.1.x befor
Heap-based buffer overflow in Oracle MySQL 5.5.19 and other versions through 5.5.28, and MariaDB 5.5.28a and possibly ot
Stack-based buffer overflow in the acl_get function in Oracle MySQL 5.5.19 and other versions through 5.5.28, and 5.1.53
The ssl3_send_client_key_exchange function in s3_clnt.c in OpenSSL before 0.9.8za, 1.0.0 before 1.0.0m, and 1.0.1 before
mysqld_safe in Oracle MySQL through 5.5.51, 5.6.x through 5.6.32, and 5.7.x through 5.7.14; MariaDB; Percona Server befo
The dtls1_get_message_fragment function in d1_both.c in OpenSSL before 0.9.8za, 1.0.0 before 1.0.0m, and 1.0.1 before 1.
Oracle MySQL before 5.7.3, Oracle MySQL Connector/C (aka libmysqlclient) before 6.1.3, and MariaDB before 5.5.44 use the
The BN_mod_sqrt() function, which computes a modular square root, contains a bug that can cause it to loop forever for n
EUVD-2026-95899
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
GitHub
VulDB
Exploit-DB