VulnerabilityPublished 16 Jul 2024Updated 4 Nov 2025

CVE-2024-21162: Oracle MySQL Server · Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with network access via multiple

Affects Oracle MySQL ServerSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.9 Medium : upgrade to 8.0.38 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.9Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 57% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 8.0.38

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 16 Jul 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade mysql/mysql-server to 8.0.38.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Mysqlmysql/mysql-server`pkg:deb/mysql/mysql-server`Other threats	Affected <8.0.38	Fixed in 8.0.38

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

1. 2. Restrict network access to MySQL Server instances by implementing strict firewall rules and network segmentation, allowing only trusted hosts and services to communicate with the database server. 3. Enforce the principle of least privilege by limiting high-level privileges on MySQL servers to only essential administrative accounts and regularly auditing these privileges. 4. Implement robust internal monitoring and alerting for unusual MySQL server behavior, such as frequent crashes or hangs, to enable rapid detection and response. 5. Use intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS) to identify and block suspicious network activity targeting MySQL services. 6. Harden MySQL configurations by disabling unnecessary protocols and services that could be exploited to gain network access. 7. Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focusing on privilege escalation and lateral movement scenarios within the network. 8. Prepare incident response plans that include procedures for MySQL service recovery and forensic analysis in case of DoS attacks. 9. Consider deploying high availability and failover mechanisms to minimize downtime if a MySQL instance becomes unavailable. 10. Educate privileged users on security best practices to reduce the risk of credential compromise.

Description

Vulnerability in the MySQL Server product of Oracle MySQL (component: Server: Optimizer). Supported versions that are affected are 8.0.37 and prior and 8.4.0 and prior. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows high privileged attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise MySQL Server. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete DOS) of MySQL Server. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 4.9 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2024-21162 is the potential for denial of service attacks against MySQL Server instances, which can lead to downtime of critical database services. This can disrupt business operations, affect customer-facing applications, and impair data processing workflows. Industries such as finance, telecommunications, healthcare, and government services that rely heavily on MySQL for transactional databases or backend services may experience operational interruptions. The requirement for high privileges limits the risk to scenarios where attackers have already breached internal defenses or compromised privileged accounts, but insider threats or lateral movement within networks could exploit this vulnerability. The availability impact could also affect compliance with service level agreements (SLAs) and regulatory requirements for uptime and data availability. Additionally, repeated crashes may complicate incident response and recovery efforts, increasing operational costs. European organizations with distributed MySQL deployments or cloud-hosted MySQL services must consider the risk of cascading failures in clustered environments. The vulnerability does not expose data to theft or modification, but the service disruption alone can have significant financial and reputational consequences.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Nov 2025, 17:01 UTC

Technical details

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