Author Archives: Lucian Constantin

A publicly disclosed vulnerability in the MySQL database could allow attackers to completely compromise some servers.

The vulnerability affects “all MySQL servers in default configuration in all version branches (5.7, 5.6, and 5.5) including the latest versions,” as well as the MySQL-derived databases MariaDB and Percona DB, according to Dawid Golunski, the researcher who found it.

The flaw, tracked as CVE-2016-6662, can be exploited to modify the MySQL configuration file (my.cnf) and cause an attacker-controlled library to be executed with root privileges if the MySQL process is started with the mysqld_safe wrapper script.

The exploit can be executed if the attacker has an authenticated connection to the MySQL service, which is common in shared hosting environments, or through an SQL injection flaw, a common type of vulnerability in websites.

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A publicly disclosed vulnerability in the MySQL database could allow attackers to completely compromise some servers.

The vulnerability affects “all MySQL servers in default configuration in all version branches (5.7, 5.6, and 5.5) including the latest versions,” as well as the MySQL-derived databases MariaDB and Percona DB, according to Dawid Golunski, the researcher who found it.

The flaw, tracked as CVE-2016-6662, can be exploited to modify the MySQL configuration file (my.cnf) and cause an attacker-controlled library to be executed with root privileges if the MySQL process is started with the mysqld_safe wrapper script.

The exploit can be executed if the attacker has an authenticated connection to the MySQL service, which is common in shared hosting environments, or through an SQL injection flaw, a common type of vulnerability in websites.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

To push more websites to implement encryption and to better protect users, Google will start flagging plain HTTP connections as insecure in its popular Chrome browser.

The plan will go into effect in January with the release of Chrome 56 and will roll out in stages. Chrome 56 will display a “not secure” indicator before HTTP URLs in the browser’s address bar, but only for those web pages that contain password or credit card form fields.

Transmitting such sensitive information over HTTP is dangerous because the data can be intercepted by man-in-the-middle attackers on public wireless networks or via compromised routers, for example.

In later Chrome releases, the HTTP warnings will be further expanded. First, HTTP pages will be labeled as “not secure” when accessed in the browser’s privacy-oriented Incognito mode. Eventually, Chrome will show the warning for all HTTP pages and will switch the security indicator to the red triangle now used for broken HTTPS connections.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

To push more websites to implement encryption and to better protect users, Google will start flagging plain HTTP connections as insecure in its popular Chrome browser.

The plan will go into effect in January with the release of Chrome 56 and will roll out in stages. Chrome 56 will display a “not secure” indicator before HTTP URLs in the browser’s address bar, but only for those web pages that contain password or credit card form fields.

Transmitting such sensitive information over HTTP is dangerous because the data can be intercepted by man-in-the-middle attackers on public wireless networks or via compromised routers, for example.

In later Chrome releases, the HTTP warnings will be further expanded. First, HTTP pages will be labeled as “not secure” when accessed in the browser’s privacy-oriented Incognito mode. Eventually, Chrome will show the warning for all HTTP pages and will switch the security indicator to the red triangle now used for broken HTTPS connections.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here