CVE-2002-1356 in Ethereal
Summary
by MITRE
Ethereal 0.9.7 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via malformed packets to the (1) LMP, (2) PPP, or (3) TDS dissectors, possibly related to a missing field for EndVerifyAck messages.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2002-1356 represents a critical security flaw in Ethereal version 0.9.7 and earlier, which is a network protocol analyzer widely used for network traffic inspection and troubleshooting. This vulnerability affects three specific protocol dissectors within the application: LMP (Link Management Protocol), PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol), and TDS (Tabular Data Stream). The flaw manifests when these dissectors process malformed network packets, potentially leading to application instability and unauthorized code execution. This issue directly impacts the integrity and availability of network monitoring operations that rely on Ethereal for protocol analysis.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation within the protocol dissectors, specifically related to a missing field in EndVerifyAck messages that should be properly handled during packet processing. When Ethereal encounters malformed packets containing these specific message types, the application fails to properly validate or sanitize the incoming data before processing it through the affected dissectors. This lack of proper field validation creates a condition where maliciously crafted packets can trigger buffer overflows, null pointer dereferences, or other memory corruption issues within the application's processing logic. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read errors that can occur when processing malformed data structures.
The operational impact of CVE-2002-1356 is severe and multifaceted, affecting both availability and potentially confidentiality of network monitoring systems. Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability to cause complete application crashes, resulting in denial of service conditions that interrupt network analysis capabilities and potentially leave network administrators without critical monitoring tools during security incidents. In addition to denial of service, the vulnerability may enable remote code execution, allowing attackers to potentially gain unauthorized control over systems running vulnerable versions of Ethereal. This represents a significant risk for network security operations centers that depend on Ethereal for real-time network analysis, as an attacker could disrupt monitoring operations while simultaneously gaining potential access to the monitoring system itself. The vulnerability affects the fundamental operational integrity of network analysis tools and can compromise the security posture of entire network infrastructures.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2002-1356 require immediate action to address the vulnerability through software updates and operational procedures. The primary and most effective mitigation is upgrading to Ethereal version 0.9.8 or later, which contains patches specifically designed to address the malformed packet handling issues in the affected dissectors. Organizations should implement a comprehensive patch management process to ensure all instances of Ethereal are updated promptly, particularly in environments where network monitoring is critical for security operations. Network administrators should also consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of vulnerable systems to untrusted networks. Additionally, deploying intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malformed packets targeting these specific protocol dissectors can provide an additional layer of protection. From an operational security perspective, organizations should conduct thorough testing of patched versions in controlled environments before widespread deployment to ensure compatibility with existing network monitoring workflows. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of input validation and defensive programming practices, which align with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for execution through command and scripting interpreter and T1499.004 for network disruption through denial of service, making it a critical target for security hardening efforts.