Buffer overflow in Oracle MySQL

CVE-2004-0836

Buffer overflow in the mysql_real_connect function in MySQL 4.x before 4.0.21, and 3.x before 3.23.49, allows remote DNS servers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via a DNS response with a large address length (h_length).

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published 2004-11-03 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 10.0 (High). Vector: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.098 (95.5th percentile), scored 2026-10-25.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 96th percentile — 95.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.098 · newest: 0.098 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Oracle MySQL
Debian Linux — versions 3.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-119 — Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

References

www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2004-611.html (vendor-advisory, Patch, Vendor Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/10981 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
www.debian.org/security/2004/dsa-562 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
marc.info/ (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/17047 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry)
secunia.com/advisories/12305/ (Third Party Advisory, third-party-advisory)
distro.conectiva.com.br/atualizacoes/ (vendor-advisory, Broken Link)
www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2004-597.html (vendor-advisory, Patch, Vendor Advisory)
www.ciac.org/ciac/bulletins/p-018.shtml (government-resource, Broken Link, third-party-advisory)
www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa/glsa-200410-22.xml (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)