What is CVE-2008-4098?

CVE-2008-4098 is a vulnerability in MySQL, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. Published 2008-09-18.

Is CVE-2008-4098 known to be exploited?

11 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in MySQL

CVE-2008-4098

MySQL before 5.0.67 allows local users to bypass certain privilege checks by calling CREATE TABLE on a MyISAM table with modified (1) DATA DIRECTORY or (2) INDEX DIRECTORY arguments that are originally associated with pathnames without symlinks, and that can point to tables created at a future time at which a pathname is modified to contain a symlink to a subdirectory of the MySQL home data directory. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2008-4097.

Published 2008-09-18 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 4.6 (Medium). Vector: AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.016 (75.2th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 75th percentile — 75.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.016 · newest: 0.016 · change: 0.000

Affected products

MySQL — versions 5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2
Oracle MySQL — versions 5.0.23, 5.0.25, 5.0.26
Canonical Ubuntu Linux — versions 6.06, 7.10, 8.04
Debian Linux — versions 5.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-59 — Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.mandriva.com/security/advisories (vendor-advisory, Broken Link)
www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1397-1 (vendor-advisory)
www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-1067.html (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi (Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-671-1 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
secunia.com/advisories/38517 (Not Applicable, third-party-advisory)
oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval:org.mitre.oval:def:10591 (signature, vdb-entry)
ubuntu.com/usn/usn-897-1 (vendor-advisory, Third Party Advisory)
secunia.com/advisories/32769 (Not Applicable, third-party-advisory)
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/09/09/20 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2008-4098?: CVE-2008-4098 is a vulnerability in MySQL, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. Published 2008-09-18.
Is CVE-2008-4098 known to be exploited?: 11 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.