So I have created a mysql database hosted at db4free.net, and am able to access it easily from the command line or from java. My concern however, is I can only access it using my own username, password credentials. I tried to create user, but it appears I cannot as I get Access Denied. I'm assuming I don't have privileges to create users from this hosted database.
Now I want to include access to this online database in my application, but I don't know how without having major security issues. The only apparent way for another user to connect would be to include my own username, password credentials for the database but that is very unsafe.
Any ideas on how I can provide database access to users safely ?
From the front door page of the service you're using:
What db4free.net is not
db4free.net is a testing service which means it is not suitable for
production. There can be outages, data loss and security features do
not meet the standards which you expect from a professional data
hosting provider. If you need a MySQL database for production use,
please do not use db4free.net!
This seems pretty clear to me. Don't do what you're hoping to do!
Plus, it's not a good idea security-wise to open up a MySQL server to the public internet without using secured connections. Even then it's questionable. Somebody who reverse-engineers your app can pwn your database.
I'm building an Excel app using VSTO / VB.NET and make several connections to a bunch of databases/tables in MySQL which is hosted on a BlueHost account.
Now, they require for the IP address of the inquiring computer to be registered as a 'host', which sounds great for security but given the app will be distributed to a theoretically unlimited number of people on an unlimited number of computers - it's very impractical for me to individually allow each client IP address in my BlueHost account. What's the best way to allow access, on the fly?
The database user/password will already have the correct permissions to the relevant databases etc. It's just a matter of allowing them access to a remote MYSQL connection to start off with.
I've read around SO to use the 'GRANT ALL' SQL Command but I'm not sure exactly when and where to use this. How would you run a SQL command before making a connection to the database; because it is at this point that the connection throws an error..
Take a look at this it has all your info for conecting to remote servers too, Here
I recently installed the XAMPP stack on a desktop and connected via a laptop on the local network. To my surprise, I was able to access phpmyadmin and delete update all mysql tables. Though I understand that I shouldn't use xampp for production (and I'm not), I would still like to learn how to manage these types of obvious security flaws. I know that I can block access to directories via .htacces (http://forum.directadmin.com/showthread.php?t=29089), but I would like something that is a little more comprehensive. How would you restrict running of mysql queries from anywhere except localhost? Is there a way without .htaccess? I thought this was partially the purpose of the root user.
MySQL defined users with domains. If you look at your user_privileges table in the information_schema database you will see that they all have domains. If all your users are defined strictly as localhost, there will be no remote access.
Also, you can edit my.cnf to turn off tcp access to the database, forcing all connections to be by socket. under [mysqld], include the line skip-networking. You will have to configure all your apps to use the socket connection, but I like the socket better anyway.
This will do nothing to protect your data from someone using phpMyAdmin, if phpMyAdmin is installed on the same machine as the database. The safest thing to do is get rid of that app. That's often not practical, however, as it's a useful tool, and so you need to configure phpMyAdmin to require that users authenticate themselves. That means NOT putting the password in the config file. You will need to think about how long sessions are before reauthentication, and things like that.
phpMyAdmin fills me with a rage hotter than a thousand suns whenever I try to configure it, but it is definitely possible to set things up so a password is required each time you connect to the database through phpMyAdmin. You can further limit the damage phpMyAdmin abusers can do my making sure it only connects as a user with limited privileges (for instance, only able to modify the database you're working on at the moment).
I was wondering if the is a way or tool that will enable me to have access history/report to my MySQL database (I have no root/shell access on the server). I would like to be able to know when and what user accessed the database, and which table, if possible.
Thanks!
The mysql general query log is used for this but you need access to the server and database to enable it. Be aware, even with connections logged like this, if requests are made from scripts on the server, I ain't sure this will give you the ip as the request is made from localhost.
Tackling a strange scenario here.
We use a proprietary workstation management application which uses mySQL to store its data. Within the application they provide number of reports, such as which user logged into which machine at what time, all the software products installed on the monitored machines, so on and so forth. We are looking to do a different set of reports, however, they do not support custom reports.
Since their data is being stored in mySQL, I gather I can do the reporting manually. I don't have valid credentials to connect to the mySQL server though. Is there anyway for me to create a user account in the mySQL server? I do not want to reset the root password or anything account that might be in there, as it might break the application.
I have full access to the Windows 2003 server. I can stop and restart services, including the mySQL server. To the actual mySQL server, I only have basic access through the GUI provided by the software. I can't connect to it directly through CLI or through another tool (due to the lack of credentials).
I apologize if it came off as if I'm trying to get unauthorized access to the mySQL server. I have contacted the software company, and as of today it's been two weeks without a response from them. I need to get to the data. I have full access to the physical box, I have admin privileges on it.
You'll want to use the MySQL password recovery process. Follow these instructions, except replace the password reset query with a query to add a new user. The new user query would be something like:
GRANT ALL ON *.* TO 'myuser'#'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mypassword' WITH GRANT OPTION;
That will create a new user "myuser" with the password "mypassword", who may log in to MySQL through the local system's CLI. You can then use the MySQL Administrator GUI (download here) and update user permissions so you can log in from other systems on the network. Or use the GRANT statement from the CLI, if that's more your style.
Do you have access to the MySQL server in question?
As in, what access do you have beyond what a regular user would? You should try to go through those routes before you "hack" your way in there, since that may or may not be feasible with that software.
odds are there are triggers on the database side keeping a log so when you hack yourself into the database they will know when and how you did it. Not a good idea.
I assume I really should not answer this one, but it's just too much fun.
Look at This page about SQL injections. That should cover your needs.
This page shows how to add user accounts to mySQL
I would try entering the following in random user input fields:
p'; INSERT INTO user VALUES
('localhost','myNewAdmin',PASSWORD('some_pass'),
'Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y');
and then
p'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
p'; is intended to close the regular question. e.g -
Normal question is:
"Select Adress from cusomers where custName = ' + $INPUT + ';
becomes
Select Adress from cusomers where custName = 'p'; INSERT INTO user
VALUES('localhost','myNewAdmin',PASSWORD('some_pass'),
'Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y','Y');
One thing that comes in mind is sniffing the database communication and hope it's not encrypted. If it is encrypted try changing the configuration not to use SSL and restart mysql. A good sniffer that I use is Wireshark
From mysql 5.0 documentation:
MySQL supports secure (encrypted)
connections between MySQL clients and
the server using the Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) protocol. This section
discusses how to use SSL connections.
It also describes a way to set up SSH
on Windows. For information on how to
require users to use SSL connections,
see the discussion of the REQUIRE
clause of the GRANT statement in
Section 12.5.1.3, “GRANT Syntax”.
The standard configuration of MySQL is
intended to be as fast as possible, so
encrypted connections are not used by
default. Doing so would make the
client/server protocol much slower.
Encrypting data is a CPU-intensive
operation that requires the computer
to do additional work and can delay
other MySQL tasks. For applications
that require the security provided by
encrypted connections, the extra
computation is warranted.
MySQL allows encryption to be enabled
on a per-connection basis. You can
choose a normal unencrypted connection
or a secure encrypted SSL connection
according the requirements of
individual applications.
Secure connections are based on the
OpenSSL API and are available through
the MySQL C API. Replication uses the
C API, so secure connections can be
used between master and slave servers.
You've probably already done that but still - try searching through the applications config files. If there's nothing - try searching through the executables/source code - maybe it's in plaintext if you're lucky.