MySQL 5.5.19 and possibly other versions, and MariaDB 5.5.28a and possibly other versions, when configured to assign the FILE privilege to…

published 2012-12-03 13 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2012-5499

cvss: 6.0; version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 31.7%; EPSS 31.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 98%
public exploits: 5; Metasploit, Exploit-DB

MySQL 5.5.19 and possibly other versions, and MariaDB 5.5.28a and possibly other versions, when configured to assign the FILE privilege to users who should not have administrative privileges, allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges by leveraging the FILE privilege to create files as the MySQL administrator. NOTE: the vendor disputes this issue, stating that this is only a vulnerability when the administrator does not follow recommendations in the product's installation documentation. NOTE: it could be argued that this should not be included in CVE because it is a configuration issue.

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2012-5613 updated 2026-11-06 cvss 4.6

mysql: database privilege escalation using FILE privilege

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 mysql Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 mysql, mysql-libs, mysql-test, mysql-bench, mysql-server, mysql-embedded
not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Timeline

2012-12-01 First public exploit (Metasploit exploit/windows/mysql/mysql_mof)
2012-12-03 Published

Exploit prediction

31.66% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

Metasploit exploit/windows/mysql/mysql_mof Oracle MySQL for Microsoft Windows MOF Execution metasploit exploit, excellent rank, 2012-12-01
Metasploit exploit/windows/mysql/mysql_start_up Oracle MySQL for Microsoft Windows FILE Privilege Abuse metasploit exploit, excellent rank, 2012-12-01
EDB-35777 Oracle MySQL (Windows) - FILE Privilege Abuse (Metasploit) remote, 2015-01-13
EDB-23179 Oracle MySQL (Windows) - MOF Execution (Metasploit) remote, 2012-12-06
EDB-23077 MySQL (Linux) - Database Privilege Escalation local, 2012-12-02
seclists.org http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2012/Dec/6 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	2.0	6.0	AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness

CWE-16 Configuration

Technology feeds

References

seclists.org /fulldisclosure/2012/Dec/6
mailing-list, exploit, third-party-advisory
security.gentoo.org /glsa/glsa-201308-06.xml
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
lists.opensuse.org /opensuse-security-announce/2013-02/msg00000.html
vendor-advisory, mailing-list, third-party-advisory
secunia.com /advisories/53372
third-party-advisory, broken-link
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2012/12/02/3
mailing-list, third-party-advisory
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2012/12/02/4
mailing-list, third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2012-5613
NVD CVE-2012-5613

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary