CVE-2003-0356 in Ethereal
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple off-by-one vulnerabilities in Ethereal 0.9.11 and earlier allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via the (1) AIM, (2) GIOP Gryphon, (3) OSPF, (4) PPTP, (5) Quake, (6) Quake2, (7) Quake3, (8) Rsync, (9) SMB, (10) SMPP, and (11) TSP dissectors, which do not properly use the tvb_get_nstringz and tvb_get_nstringz0 functions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/15/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2003-0356 represents a critical security flaw affecting Ethereal version 0.9.11 and earlier, which is a widely used network protocol analyzer. This issue manifests as multiple off-by-one errors within various protocol dissectors, creating a significant attack surface that could be exploited by remote adversaries to disrupt system operations or potentially gain unauthorized code execution privileges. The affected dissectors span across numerous network protocols including AIM instant messaging, GIOP Gryphon, OSPF routing, PPTP dial-up networking, Quake game protocols, Rsync file synchronization, SMB file sharing, SMPP messaging, and TSP telephony protocols, demonstrating the extensive impact of this flaw across different network communication domains.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of string extraction functions within the packet analysis code. Specifically, the dissectors fail to correctly utilize the tvb_get_nstringz and tvb_get_nstringz0 functions which are designed to safely extract null-terminated strings from the packet data buffer. When these functions are not properly employed, the software attempts to access memory locations that may be beyond the allocated buffer boundaries, leading to buffer overflows and subsequent memory corruption. This improper buffer management creates conditions where maliciously crafted network packets can trigger unexpected program behavior, potentially resulting in crashes or arbitrary code execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, as it affects network monitoring and security analysis capabilities. Organizations relying on Ethereal for network traffic analysis and intrusion detection would face potential denial of service conditions where their monitoring systems become unavailable due to crafted malicious packets. The possibility of arbitrary code execution introduces additional risks where attackers could potentially compromise the host system running Ethereal, leading to complete system compromise. This vulnerability particularly threatens network security operations centers and security professionals who depend on protocol analyzers for threat detection and incident response activities.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-125, which covers out-of-bounds read errors. The attack patterns associated with this flaw correspond to techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under T1059 for command and control, and T1499 for network denial of service. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to Ethereal version 0.10.0 or later, which contains the necessary patches to address these buffer overflow conditions. Additionally, network segmentation and firewall rules can be implemented to limit exposure of affected systems, while regular security updates and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to maintain defense in depth. The incident highlights the critical importance of proper input validation and buffer management in network protocol analysis tools, particularly when handling untrusted network data from diverse protocol sources.