CVE-2002-0822 in Ethereal
Summary
by MITRE
Ethereal 0.9.4 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly excecute arbitrary code via the (1) SOCKS, (2) RSVP, (3) AFS, or (4) LMP dissectors, which can be caused to core dump.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/29/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-0822 represents a critical security flaw in Ethereal version 0.9.4 and earlier, which was a widely used network protocol analyzer and packet sniffer. This vulnerability affects four specific protocol dissectors within the software including SOCKS, RSVP, AFS, and LMP protocols. The flaw manifests when these dissectors process malformed or specially crafted network packets, leading to unpredictable behavior that can result in system crashes or potential code execution. The vulnerability was particularly concerning because Ethereal was commonly used by network administrators and security professionals for network monitoring and troubleshooting, making it a prime target for exploitation. The issue stems from inadequate input validation and error handling within the protocol parsing components, which fail to properly sanitize or reject malformed data packets before processing them. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of stack-based buffer overflow, though it specifically relates to improper handling of network protocol data rather than traditional buffer overflow conditions. The attack vector requires a remote attacker to send specially crafted packets to a system running the vulnerable Ethereal version, which then processes these packets through the affected dissectors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service, as the potential for arbitrary code execution makes it particularly dangerous in network monitoring environments. When the affected dissectors encounter malformed packets, they can trigger memory corruption conditions that result in program crashes or, in more severe cases, allow attackers to execute malicious code with the privileges of the Ethereal process. This creates a significant risk for network administrators who may unknowingly process malicious traffic while investigating network issues, potentially compromising entire network monitoring infrastructures. The vulnerability affects systems where Ethereal is running in packet capture mode, particularly when monitoring networks that may contain hostile traffic. The core dump behavior indicates that the application fails in a way that generates crash dumps, which could potentially be exploited to gain additional system information or to craft more sophisticated attacks. This vulnerability is particularly relevant to the ATT&CK framework under the T1059 technique of command and control communication, as it could be used to establish persistent access through compromised monitoring systems.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2002-0822 primarily involve immediate upgrading to Ethereal version 0.9.5 or later, which contains patches addressing the problematic dissectors. Network administrators should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of systems running Ethereal to potentially malicious traffic. Additional protective measures include deploying intrusion detection systems that can identify and block suspicious packet patterns, implementing network monitoring that can detect abnormal behavior in protocol dissectors, and conducting regular security assessments of network monitoring tools. Organizations should also consider implementing network traffic filtering rules that can prevent certain protocol traffic from reaching systems running vulnerable versions of Ethereal. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation in network protocol analyzers, as these tools must be able to handle malformed or malicious packets without compromising system stability or security. Security best practices recommend that network monitoring tools be regularly updated and patched, and that organizations maintain inventory of all network monitoring software to quickly identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities. The incident also underscores the need for proper error handling in network protocol parsing components, as the lack of robust validation mechanisms can lead to exploitable conditions that affect system integrity and availability.