RHSA-2008:0768: Moderate: mysql security, bug fix, and enhancement update

MySQL is a multi-user, multi-threaded SQL database server. MySQL is aclient/server implementation consisting of a server daemon (mysqld), andmany different client programs and libraries.MySQL did not correctly check directories used as arguments for the DATADIRECTORY and INDEX DIRECTORY directives. Using this flaw, an authenticatedattacker could elevate their access privileges to tables created by otherdatabase users. Note: this attack does not work on existing tables. Anattacker can only elevate their access to another user's tables as thetables are created. As well, the names of these created tables need to bepredicted correctly for this attack to succeed. (CVE-2008-2079)MySQL did not require the "DROP" privilege for "RENAME TABLE" statements.An authenticated user could use this flaw to rename arbitrary tables.(CVE-2007-2691)MySQL allowed an authenticated user to access a table through a previouslycreated MERGE table, even after the user's privileges were revoked from theoriginal table, which might violate intended security policy. This isaddressed by allowing the MERGE storage engine to be disabled, which can bedone by running mysqld with the "--skip-merge" option. (CVE-2006-4031)A flaw in MySQL allowed an authenticated user to cause the MySQL daemon tocrash via crafted SQL queries. This only caused a temporary denial ofservice, as the MySQL daemon is automatically restarted after the crash.(CVE-2006-3469)As well, these updated packages fix the following bugs: in the previous mysql packages, if a column name was referenced more than once in an "ORDER BY" section of a query, a segmentation faultoccurred. when MySQL failed to start, the init script returned a successful (0) exit code. When using the Red Hat Cluster Suite, this may have causedcluster services to report a successful start, even when MySQL failed tostart. In these updated packages, the init script returns the correct exitcodes, which resolves this issue. it was possible to use the mysqldsafe command to specify invalid port numbers (higher than 65536), causing invalid ports to be created, and, insome cases, a "port number definition: unsigned short" error. In theseupdated packages, when an invalid port number is specified, the defaultport number is used. when setting "myisamrepairthreads > 1", any repair set the index cardinality to "1", regardless of the table size. the MySQL init script no longer runs "chmod -R" on the entire database directory tree during every startup. when running "mysqldump" with the MySQL 4.0 compatibility mode option, "--compatible=mysql40", mysqldump created dumps that omitted the"autoincrement" field.As well, the MySQL init script now uses more reliable methods fordetermining parameters, such as the data directory location.Note: these updated packages upgrade MySQL to version 4.1.22. For a fulllist of bug fixes and enhancements, refer to the MySQL release notes:http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/4.1/en/news-4-1-22.html All mysql users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, whichresolve these issues and add this enhancement.