CVE-2016-6664

Exp

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 before 5.5.51-38.2, 5.6.x before 5.6.32-78-1, and 5.7.x before 5.7.14-8; and Percona XtraDB Cluster before 5.5.41-37.0, 5.6.x before 5.6.32-25.17, and 5.7.x before 5.7.14-26.17, when using file-based logging, allows local users with access to the mysql account to gain root privileges via a symlink attack on error logs and possibly other files.

Published: 2016-12-13 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-6664 is rated High Exploit Risk (68.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.08%). 4 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-2016-6664

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
40679 exploit_db edb 2016-11-01 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-6664

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 2026-06-15 62.12% 3.08% -59.04%
2 2026-05-26 65.91% 62.12% -3.79%
3 2026-05-24 — 65.91% —

Full EPSS history (31 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-6664

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.0 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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.
 1.0 5.9 [email protected]
6.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
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.
 3.4 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-6664

OS Trackers for CVE-2016-6664

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2016-6664: 1 source package rows (mariadb); 10 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 10, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2016-6664
gentoo high CVE-2016-6664: 1 GLSA(s) (201702-18), 1 atom(s) (dev-db/mariadb); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2016-6664
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6664
suse high CVE-2016-6664 severity important: SUSE including 176 source package names (4.0.0:libmysqlclient18-10.0.29-22.1, beta1:libmysqlclient18-10.0.29-22.1, …), 407 product×package rows across 62 product lines (Container caasp/v4/salt-master, Container caasp/v4/velum, … (62 product lines)): Fixed 313, Known Not Affected 94. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6664/
ubuntu medium CVE-2016-6664 medium priority: Ubuntu including 4 source packages (mariadb-10.0, mysql-5.5, mysql-5.6, mysql-5.7), 21 status rows across 6 suites (precise, trusty, upstream, vivid, xenial, yakkety): DNE 11, released 8, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-6664

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-6664

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
oracle mysql >= 5.5.0, <= 5.5.51 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:mysql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle mysql >= 5.6.0, <= 5.6.32 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:mysql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle mysql >= 5.7.0, <= 5.7.14 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:mysql:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mariadb mariadb >= 5.5.0, < 5.5.54 cpe:2.3:a:mariadb:mariadb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mariadb mariadb >= 10.0.0, < 10.0.29 cpe:2.3:a:mariadb:mariadb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mariadb mariadb >= 10.1.0, < 10.1.21 cpe:2.3:a:mariadb:mariadb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona percona_server >= 5.5, < 5.5.51-38.2 cpe:2.3:a:percona:percona_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona percona_server >= 5.6, < 5.6.32-78.1 cpe:2.3:a:percona:percona_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona percona_server >= 5.7, < 5.7.14-8 cpe:2.3:a:percona:percona_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtradb_cluster >= 5.5, < 5.5.41-37.0 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtradb_cluster:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtradb_cluster >= 5.6, < 5.6.32-25.17 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtradb_cluster:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
percona xtradb_cluster >= 5.7, < 5.7.14-26.17 cpe:2.3:a:percona:xtradb_cluster:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-6664

URL Tags
http://legalhackers.com/advisories/MySQL-Maria-Percona-RootPrivEsc-CVE-2016-6664-5617-Exploit.html Exploit Third Party Advisory
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139491/MySQL-MariaDB-PerconaDB-Root-Privilege-Escalation.html Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2130.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2016-2749.html Third Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Nov/4 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3770 Third Party Advisory
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2016-2881722.html Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/539695/100/0/threaded Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93612 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2192 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0279 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0574 Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201702-18 Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40679/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.percona.com/blog/2016/11/02/percona-responds-to-cve-2016-6663-and-cve-2016-6664/ Vendor Advisory
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