Critical Denial of Service Vulnerability in MariaDB - CVE-2018-3251

mariadb Updated 02 Oct 2025

Summary

17/10/2018

Disclosed on

N/A

Severity

Yes i

Fix available

Medium

Severity

6.5

CVSS Score

ALPINE-CVE-2018-3251: Vulnerability in the MySQL Server component of Oracle MySQL (subcomponent: InnoDB). Affects mariadb versions < 10.3.11-r0. Fixed in 10.3.11-r0. How to fix ↓

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Background

MariaDB is an open-source relational database management system that is widely used for web applications and data storage. It is a fork of MySQL and is designed to be highly compatible with it, offering improved performance and features. The vulnerability CVE-2018-3251 affects multiple versions of MariaDB, allowing attackers to exploit the system and potentially cause a denial of service (DoS). This vulnerability is particularly concerning for applications relying on MariaDB for critical data operations.

Vulnerability Detail

CVE-2018-3251 is a vulnerability in the MySQL Server component of Oracle MySQL, specifically affecting the InnoDB subcomponent. It allows a low-privileged attacker with network access to compromise the MySQL Server. The vulnerability can lead to unauthorized ability to cause a hang or a frequently repeatable crash of the MySQL Server, resulting in a complete denial of service. The affected versions include MariaDB versions prior to 10.3.11-r0 for Alpine Linux. The CVSS score for this vulnerability is 6.5, indicating a moderate risk to availability.

How To Fix

Minimum fixed version

10.3.11-r0

This is the first release that contains the fix.

sudo apk add --upgrade mariadb

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Workaround

If immediate patching is not possible, consider implementing network-level controls to restrict access to the MariaDB server. This may include configuring firewalls to limit access to trusted IP addresses only.

Conclusion

CVE-2018-3251 is a significant vulnerability affecting multiple versions of MariaDB, allowing for potential denial of service attacks. It is crucial for users to update to the patched version to mitigate risks. Additionally, implementing network-level controls can serve as a temporary workaround until the update is applied.

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