high CVSS 8.8 EPSS 0.56%

CVE-2026-97380·MariaDB vulnerability

MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. From 10.6.1 until 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2, the GRANT PROXY statement treats an IDENTIFIED clause with an empty password as though authentication were not specified, causing it to check the wrong grantor privileges. A low-privileged attacker who can name another account can exploit this authorization error to set that account's password. This issue is fixed in versions 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2.

Severity
high
Software
MariaDB
Fixed in
12.3.3
Published

How likely is exploitation

FIRST's Exploit Prediction Scoring System puts the probability of this CVE being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.56% — higher than 46% of all published CVEs. EPSS is an independent forecast of exploitation, not a severity rating: it says nothing about how much damage a successful attack does, which is what a CVSS score measures.

Read the two together. CVE-2026-97380 scores 8.8 on CVSS, so a successful attack would be serious — but at 0.56%, almost nobody is currently attempting it. That is a different situation from a flaw under mass exploitation, and it is usually the difference between patching on your next maintenance window and patching tonight.

Affected versions

From: 12.3.1

Until: 12.3.3

Fixed in: 12.3.3

How to fix this CVE

Update MariaDB to version 11.8.9 or later to patch a privilege escalation vulnerability in the GRANT PROXY statement. The vulnerability allows low-privileged users to modify passwords of other accounts by exploiting improper authentication validation when empty passwords are used. Immediate patching is critical for environments where multiple database users exist with varying privilege levels.

sudo dnf update mariadb-server

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Run 'mariadb --version' or 'mysql --version' to check the currently installed MariaDB version
  2. Query the MariaDB server with 'SELECT VERSION();' to confirm the running version matches the installed package
  3. Search MariaDB error logs (typically /var/log/mysql/error.log or /var/log/mariadb/mariadb.log) for GRANT PROXY statements executed by non-administrative users
  4. Verify the patch was applied by confirming the version is 11.8.9+ds-1 or higher using 'dpkg -l | grep mariadb-server' on Debian/Ubuntu or 'rpm -qa | grep mariadb-server' on RHEL/CentOS

FAQ

What is CVE-2026-97380?

CVE-2026-97380 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in MariaDB where the GRANT PROXY statement with an empty password incorrectly validates grantor privileges, allowing low-privileged attackers to reset passwords for arbitrary accounts they can name.

Is CVE-2026-97380 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not listed on the CISA KEV catalog and no public exploits are currently available, but the critical CVSS score of 9.0 warrants immediate patching.

What versions of MariaDB are affected by CVE-2026-97380?

Affected versions include 10.6.1 through 10.6.27, 10.11.0 through 10.11.18, 11.4.0 through 11.4.12, 11.8.0 through 11.8.8, 12.3.0 through 12.3.2, and 13.0.0 through 13.0.1. Fixed versions are 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2026-97380?

Connect to MariaDB and run 'SELECT VERSION();' — if the version is below 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, or 13.0.2 (depending on your release series), your instance is vulnerable.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2026-97380?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If MariaDB is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2026-97380 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related MariaDB CVEs

CVE-2026-49261CVSS 10MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. Versions 10.6.1 through 10.6.26, 10.11.1 through 10.11.17, 11.4.1 through 11.4.11, 11.8.1 through 11.8.7, and 12.3.1 with `wsrep_notify_cmd` enabled would execute shell commands embedded in the name of the joiner node. This is fixed in 10.6.27, 10.11.18, 11.4.12, 11.8.8, and 12.3.2. As a workaround, anyone who cannot upgrade now should disable `wsrep_notify_cmd`.
CVE-2026-85746CVSS 9.9MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. From 10.6.1 until 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2, ST_AsText can write beyond an allocated output buffer when converting deeply nested GeometryCollections because recursive WKT serialization does not account for bytes consumed or reserve sufficient space. A low-privileged remote attacker can submit a specially crafted GIS object to corrupt memory and potentially achieve code execution when combined with another vulnerability. This issue is fixed in versions 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2.
CVE-2026-92262CVSS 9.9MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. From 10.6.1 until 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2, the #mysql50# bypass prefix is affected because it allows the #mysql50# prefix to bypass normal table-name filesystem encoding. An attacker can trigger the issue with a table name using the #mysql50# prefix, then use a #mysql50# table name to access files under their legacy unencoded name and cause crashes, data corruption, data exfiltration, or remote code execution. This issue is fixed in versions 10.6.28, 10.11.19, 11.4.13, 11.8.9, 12.3.3, and 13.0.2.
CVE-2026-85748CVSS 9.9MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. From 12.3.1 until 12.3.3 and 13.0.2, SYS_REFCURSOR handling is affected because cursor-array reallocation can leave stale references in routine contexts. A low-privileged attacker can open a large number of SYS_REFCURSORs and then fetch one to trigger a use-after-free that can enable remote code execution when combined with another vulnerability. This issue is fixed in versions 12.3.3 and 13.0.2.
CVE-2026-44170CVSS 9.8MariaDB server is a community developed fork of MySQL server. From versions 10.6.1 to before 10.6.26, 10.11.1 to before 10.11.17, 11.4.1 to before 11.4.11, 11.8.1 to before 11.8.7, and 12.3.1, MariaDB on WIndows with installed CONNECT engine and enabled REST support interpolated table HTTP attribute into the curl command line without proper sanitizing. This allows the user to execute shell commands on the server. This issue has been patched in versions 10.6.26, 10.11.17, 11.4.11, 11.8.7, and 12.3.2.

References

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