# CVE-2012-2122: Auth bypass in n/a

> Remote attackers can bypass authentication in MySQL and MariaDB by exploiting a memcmp implementation flaw, allowing unauthorized access without valid credentials.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.1 (`AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Jun 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4qx9-mwf7-7cx8

## What is CVE-2012-2122?

CVE-2012-2122 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Mariadb Mariadb, published on 26 Jun 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

sql/password.c in Oracle MySQL 5.1.x before 5.1.63, 5.5.x before 5.5.24, and 5.6.x before 5.6.6, and MariaDB 5.1.x before 5.1.62, 5.2.x before 5.2.12, 5.3.x before 5.3.6, and 5.5.x before 5.5.23, when running in certain environments with certain implementations of the memcmp function, allows remote attackers to bypass authentication by repeatedly authenticating with the same incorrect password, which eventually causes a token comparison to succeed due to an improperly-checked return value.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-2122?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Mariadb Mariadb, Oracle Mysql.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-2122?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2012-2122 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-2122 exists.

Public exploit code:

- This is used to scan for CVE-2012-2122 vulnerable servers. (github_poc): https://github.com/Avinza/CVE-2012-2122-scanner
- https://github.com/cyberharsh/Oracle-mysql-CVE-2012-2122 (github_poc): https://github.com/cyberharsh/Oracle-mysql-CVE-2012-2122
- MySQL Authentication Bypass Password Dump (metasploit)
- MySQL - Authentication Bypass (exploitdb)
- https://github.com/zhangkaibin0921/CVE-2012-2122 (github_poc): https://github.com/zhangkaibin0921/CVE-2012-2122
- CVE-2012-2122 MySQL Authentication Bypass Home Lab (github_poc): https://github.com/netw0rk7/CVE-2012-2122-Home-Lab

## Other vulnerabilities in Mariadb Mariadb

- [CVE-2026-49261](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49261/): MariaDB server has unsafe parameter handling in `wsrep_notify_cmd` (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-85746](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85746/): MariaDB: Out-of-bound buffer write on in `ST_AsText` of nested GeometryCollections (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2026-85748](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-85748/): MariaDB: Use-after-free with a large number of SYS_REFCURSOR's (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2026-92262](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-92262/): MariaDB: Numerous issues caused by historical #mysql50# tablename encoding bypass. (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2023-26785](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-26785/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-2122 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-2122 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Mariadb Mariadb, published on 26 Jun 2012. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2012-2122 exists.

Affected product: Mariadb Mariadb. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2122/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2122/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-2122
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-2122
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-2122

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2122/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.