The more correct summary is: > People that can run queries on your MySQL as a user that has FILE privileges, either by legit access or via an SQL-injection vul

The more correct summary is: > People that can run queries on your MySQL as a user that has FILE privileges, either by legit access or via an SQL-injection vulnerability, can execute commands that might root your server. This may seem nitpicky, but it makes a world of difference. For instance, none of the (many) shared hosting providers (godaddy et. al.) nor solutions (plesk, cpanel, etc.) I know of give FILE permissions to SQL users at all. In fact, the shoddy way to create users is through the "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mydb.* TO 'myuser'@'%'" command, which does not grant FILE privileges to that user. Taking this into account, another possible summary is: If you explicitly created mysql users with the FILE privilege or you are using the root user for day-to-day operations, you may get your server rooted. Stop doing that. Otherwise nothing to see for you here, just move on and install whatever security updates are issued by your distro-de-jour.