CVE-2016-6662

Exp

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 10.0.27, and 10.1.x before 10.1.17; and Percona Server before 5.5.51-38.1, 5.6.x before 5.6.32-78.0, and 5.7.x before 5.7.14-7 allow local users to create arbitrary configurations and bypass certain protection mechanisms by setting general_log_file to a my.cnf configuration. NOTE: this can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with root privileges by setting malloc_lib. NOTE: the affected MySQL version information is from Oracle's October 2016 CPU. Oracle has not commented on third-party claims that the issue was silently patched in MySQL 5.5.52, 5.6.33, and 5.7.15.

Published: 2016-09-20 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-6662 is rated High Exploit Risk (89.7/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 89.58%, 100th percentile). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2016-6662

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
40360 exploit_db edb 2016-09-12 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-6662

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-04 88.94% 89.58% +0.63%
2 2026-03-02 89.80% 88.94% -0.86%
3 2026-03-01 — 89.80% —

Full EPSS history (43 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-6662

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-6662

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-6662

vendor priority summary link
gentoo normal CVE-2016-6662: 1 GLSA(s) (201701-01), 2 atom(s) (dev-db/mariadb, dev-db/mysql); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-6662
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6662
suse high CVE-2016-6662 severity important: SUSE including 182 source package names (4.0.0:libmysqlclient18-10.0.27-12.1, beta1:libmysqlclient18-10.0.27-12.1, …), 509 product×package rows across 83 product lines (Container caasp/v4/salt-master, Container caasp/v4/velum, … (83 product lines)): Fixed 362, Known Not Affected 147. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6662/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-6662 medium priority: Ubuntu including 9 source packages (mariadb-10.0, mariadb-5.5, …), 203 status rows across 24 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, precise, questing, trusty, upstream, vivid, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 162, released 19, not-affected 13, needs-triage 5, ignored 3, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-6662

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-6662

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
oracle mysql >= 5.5.0, <= 5.5.52 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:mysql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle mysql >= 5.6.0, <= 5.6.33 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:mysql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle mysql >= 5.7.0, <= 5.7.15 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:mysql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona percona_server >= 5.5, < 5.5.51-38.1 cpe:2.3:a:percona:percona_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona percona_server >= 5.6, < 5.6.32-78.0 cpe:2.3:a:percona:percona_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona percona_server >= 5.7, < 5.7.14-7 cpe:2.3:a:percona:percona_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mariadb mariadb >= 5.5.20, < 5.5.51 cpe:2.3:a:mariadb:mariadb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mariadb mariadb >= 10.0.0, < 10.0.27 cpe:2.3:a:mariadb:mariadb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mariadb mariadb >= 10.1.0, < 10.1.17 cpe:2.3:a:mariadb:mariadb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 5.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 6.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 7.0 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 8 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openstack 9 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openstack:9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-6662

URL Tags
http://legalhackers.com/advisories/MySQL-Exploit-Remote-Root-Code-Execution-Privesc-CVE-2016-6662.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2058.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2059.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2060.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2061.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2062.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2077.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2130.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2131.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2595.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2749.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2927.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2928.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017-0184.html Third Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Sep/23 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3666 Third Party Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/09/12/3 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2016-2881722.html Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/92912 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1036769 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://jira.mariadb.org/browse/MDEV-10465 Issue Tracking Vendor Advisory
https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb/mariadb-10027-release-notes/ Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb/mariadb-10117-release-notes/ Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb/mariadb-5551-release-notes/ Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-01 Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40360/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.percona.com/blog/2016/09/12/percona-server-critical-update-cve-2016-6662/ Third Party Advisory
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