Bad to Grant reload permission in mysql?

Question

Because of a problem i had with mysql i need to use flush. I discovered the user cannot use flush without the reload permission. and to give it to him my syntax was

grant reload on *.* to 'webapp_wt'@'localhost';

I couldnt do specific_db.*. And granting this kind of permission doesnt feel right. Is there anything wrong with this? Is it possible for this mysql user to cause problems? (outside of the db i gave it permissions to).

-edit- exactly one view and one answer (and its good!) in 45mins. I am amused.

Is there a way to grant flush tables but nothing else?

Answer 1

As it is a server administration thing, you indeed cannot grant it to specific databases/tables (much of which you can do with RELOAD would not make sense for a specific databse or table).

And yes, a user can seriously hinder performance with repeatedly FLUSH'ing tables or FLUSH QUERY CACHE, and can possibly break (lagging) replication with FLUSH MASTER.