Summary
diesel-async may expose uninitialized padding bytes for MySQL temporal columns
diesel-async exposes uninitialized stack padding to safe code on every read of a MySQL DATE, TIME, DATETIME, or TIMESTAMP column. Reading that buffer is undefined behavior, and the leaked bytes can contain stale heap/stack contents, so this is both a soundness bug and a potential information-disclosure vector.
Details
In diesel-async/src/mysql/row.rs (lines 65-103), MysqlRow::get builds a MysqlTime from the parsed mysql_async::Value and then fabricates the byte buffer that downstream FromSql impls expect like this:
let date = MysqlTime::new(/* fields from Value::Date / Value::Time */);
let buffer = unsafe {
let ptr = &date as *const MysqlTime as *const u8;
let slice = std::slice::from_raw_parts(ptr, std::mem::size_of::<MysqlTime>());
slice.to_vec()
};
MysqlTime is #[repr(C)] with 3 bytes of padding after bool neg (Linux x86_64, offsets 0x21..0x23). The literal construction leaves that padding uninitialized, and to_vec() carries it into a Vec<u8> that becomes the MysqlValue's backing buffer, reachable from safe code via MysqlValue::as_bytes() -> &[u8].
diesel itself avoids this by going through MaybeUninit::<MysqlTime>::zeroed() + ptr::copy_nonoverlapping (see diesel/src/mysql/value.rs:43-94); the same pattern would fix this. Alternatively, write the bytes diesel's FromSql reads without round-tripping through a MysqlTime value.
PoC
Cargo.toml:
[dependencies]
diesel = { version = "~2.3.0", default-features = false, features = ["mysql_backend"] }
diesel-async = { version = "=0.8.0", features = ["mysql"] }
mysql_common = { version = "0.35", default-features = false }
src/main.rs:
use diesel::row::{Field, Row};
use diesel_async::{AsyncConnectionCore, AsyncMysqlConnection};
use mysql_common::{constants::ColumnType, packets::Column, prelude::FromRow, value::Value};
type MysqlRow = <AsyncMysqlConnection as AsyncConnectionCore>::Row<'static, 'static>;
fn main() {
let cols = std::sync::Arc::from([Column::new(ColumnType::MYSQL_TYPE_DATE)]);
let raw = mysql_common::row::new_row(vec![Value::Date(2024, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0)], cols);
let row: MysqlRow = FromRow::from_row(raw);
let field = row.get(0).unwrap();
let bytes = field.value().unwrap().as_bytes();
let _: u64 = bytes.iter().map(|&b| b as u64).sum(); // UB: hits padding
}
Miri output:
error: Undefined Behavior: reading memory at alloc844[0x21..0x22], but memory is uninitialized at [0x21..0x22], and this operation requires initialized memory
--> src/main.rs:14:37
|
14 | let _: u64 = bytes.iter().map(|&b| b as u64).sum(); // UB: hits padding
| ^ Undefined Behavior occurred here
|
= help: this indicates a bug in the program: it performed an invalid operation, and caused Undefined Behavior
= help: see https://doc.rust-lang.org/nightly/reference/behavior-considered-undefined.html for further information
= note: stack backtrace:
0: main::{closure#0}
at src/main.rs:14:37: 14:38
1: std::iter::adapters::map::map_fold::<&u8, u64, u64, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}, {closure@<u64 as std::iter::Sum>::sum<std::iter::Map<std::slice::Iter<'_, u8>, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}>>::{closure#0}}>::{closure#0}
at /home/paolobarbolini/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/library/core/src/iter/adapters/map.rs:88:28: 88:34
2: <std::slice::Iter<'_, u8> as std::iter::Iterator>::fold::<u64, {closure@std::iter::adapters::map::map_fold<&u8, u64, u64, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}, {closure@<u64 as std::iter::Sum>::sum<std::iter::Map<std::slice::Iter<'_, u8>, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}>>::{closure#0}}>::{closure#0}}>
at /home/paolobarbolini/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/library/core/src/slice/iter/macros.rs:279:27: 279:85
3: <std::iter::Map<std::slice::Iter<'_, u8>, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}> as std::iter::Iterator>::fold::<u64, {closure@<u64 as std::iter::Sum>::sum<std::iter::Map<std::slice::Iter<'_, u8>, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}>>::{closure#0}}>
at /home/paolobarbolini/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/library/core/src/iter/adapters/map.rs:128:9: 128:50
4: <u64 as std::iter::Sum>::sum::<std::iter::Map<std::slice::Iter<'_, u8>, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}>>
at /home/paolobarbolini/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/library/core/src/iter/traits/accum.rs:52:17: 56:18
5: <std::iter::Map<std::slice::Iter<'_, u8>, {closure@src/main.rs:14:35: 14:39}> as std::iter::Iterator>::sum::<u64>
at /home/paolobarbolini/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/library/core/src/iter/traits/iterator.rs:3676:9: 3676:23
6: main
at src/main.rs:14:18: 14:55
Uninitialized memory occurred at alloc844[0x21..0x22], in this allocation:
alloc844 (Rust heap, size: 48, align: 1) {
0x00 │ e8 07 00 00 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 │ ................
0x10 │ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 │ ................
0x20 │ 00 __ __ __ 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 __ __ __ __ │ .░░░........░░░░
}
Impact
Soundness bug in safe API surface of diesel-async's MySQL backend. Affects every user of AsyncMysqlConnection whose queries return a temporal column.
AI disclosure: this issue was found via Claude Code running Claude Opus 4.7.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR? GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR is a low-severity security vulnerability in diesel-async (rust), affecting versions >= 0.1.0, < 0.9.0. It is fixed in 0.9.0.
- Which versions of diesel-async are affected by GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR? diesel-async (rust) versions >= 0.1.0, < 0.9.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR? Yes. GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR is fixed in 0.9.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix GHSA-FF9Q-RM55-Q7QR? Upgrade
diesel-asyncto 0.9.0 or later.