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CVE-2021-46664: Medium Vulnerability in MariaDB

A medium-severity vulnerability has been identified in MariaDB versions through 10.5.9, allowing for application crashes under specific conditions. Immediate attention is warranted to mitigate potential disruption.

MEDIUMCVSS 5.5 · Published February 1, 2022

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This vulnerability allows an application crash in MariaDB through version 10.5.9 due to a NULL value in the sub_select_postjoin_aggr function. The CVSS score for this vulnerability is 5.5, classified as medium severity, indicating moderate risk for affected systems. Organizations using vulnerable versions should understand the potential impact on their services.

Risk to organizations includes potential downtime and service disruption, which can affect application availability. As database systems are critical for application functionality, such failures can lead to significant operational challenges.

Currently, there is no known exploit for this vulnerability, but organizations should remain vigilant. Given the medium severity, organizations should address this vulnerability in their priority patch cycle.

Organizations should prioritize patching immediately for MariaDB installations to ensure continued service reliability.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability in MariaDB arises from the handling of a NULL value in the sub_select_postjoin_aggr function, leading to application crashes. The affected versions include all releases from 10.2.0 to 10.5.9. The official CVE description states that this may lead to significant disruptions in service availability.

The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 5.5, indicating a medium severity level. This score reflects a local attack vector, low attack complexity, and requires low privileges with no user interaction necessary. The impact on availability is classified as high, while confidentiality and integrity impacts are none.

The vulnerability affects various versions of MariaDB, specifically versions 10.2.0 through 10.5.9. The last modification of the CVE record was on November 21, 2024.

Technical Analysis

The root cause of this vulnerability is the failure to handle NULL values in the sub_select_postjoin_aggr function effectively. Attackers may leverage this flaw by executing queries that indirectly lead to the NULL condition, resulting in application crashes.

The attack vector is local, as it requires access to the database. The attack complexity is low, and attackers need only low privileges to exploit this vulnerability. No user interaction is necessary for this attack.

The vulnerability impacts availability significantly, which can lead to service outages and disruption of database-dependent applications.

Risk & Impact Analysis

Real-world deployment risk associated with this vulnerability is significant, as organizations relying on MariaDB could experience downtime or degraded performance. The potential blast radius includes all applications and services leveraging affected MariaDB versions, which may lead to operational disruption.

This vulnerability matters to organizations because it can lead to increased operational costs, loss of business, and reputational damage. Immediate action to address this vulnerability is crucial to mitigate the risk of availability impact.

Given the CVSS score and the fact that it is not included in the KEV catalog, organizations should address this vulnerability during their scheduled patch cycles, prioritizing it based on their risk assessments.

Signal

Status

Known Exploit

No

Public PoC

No

Actively Exploited

No

Ransomware Use

No

Affected Versions

The affected versions of MariaDB include 10.2.0 to 10.5.9. Organizations using these versions should prioritize remediation efforts to mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability.

Mitigation & Remediation

Organizations should immediately patch their MariaDB installations to the latest version, ensuring they are no longer vulnerable to this issue. For those unable to apply patches, consider implementing network controls and configuration hardening to mitigate exposure.

For specific patch information, visit vendor advisories. Additionally, regular monitoring of application logs and implementing security testing best practices can further reduce the risk of future vulnerabilities.

Detection Guidance

To detect potential exploitation attempts, organizations should monitor application logs for abnormal behaviors or crash reports related to the sub_select_postjoin_aggr function. Additionally, maintaining a baseline of application performance can help identify anomalies indicative of exploitation.

AppSecure Threat Intelligence Insight

This vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation in database management systems. Security teams should review their coding practices, especially where user input is processed in database queries.

For further insights into vulnerability management, organizations can explore our vulnerability management program and consider adopting continuous security testing strategies to proactively identify and address potential weaknesses.

Organizations should also prioritize training for developers on secure coding practices, ensuring that they are aware of common pitfalls that can lead to vulnerabilities such as this.

To stay updated on emerging threats, consider subscribing to our penetration testing methodology blog, which covers ongoing trends and best practices in application security.

Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.

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