CVE-2005-0705 in Ethereal
Summary
by MITRE
The GPRS-LLC dissector in Ethereal 0.10.7 through 0.10.9, with the "ignore cipher bit" option enabled. allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/30/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2005-0705 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the Ethereal network protocol analyzer software. This flaw specifically affects the GPRS-LLC dissector component that processes General Packet Radio Service Link Layer protocol data. The vulnerability manifests when the "ignore cipher bit" option is enabled, which is a configuration setting that affects how the software interprets encrypted packet data. The GPRS-LLC dissector is responsible for parsing and displaying information from GSM GPRS network traffic, making it an essential component for analyzing mobile network communications. The issue arises from inadequate input validation and error handling within the dissector's processing logic when encountering malformed or unexpected packet structures.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through carefully crafted network packets that trigger a buffer overflow or memory corruption condition within the Ethereal application. When the dissector processes these malicious packets with the cipher bit option enabled, it fails to properly validate the packet structure before attempting to parse it, leading to an application crash. This behavior falls under CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and more specifically aligns with CWE-125, representing out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities. The flaw demonstrates poor defensive programming practices where the software does not adequately check array indices or buffer boundaries before processing user-supplied data. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it can be triggered remotely over network traffic without requiring authentication or special privileges.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise network monitoring capabilities and security analysis operations. When an Ethereal instance crashes due to this vulnerability, network administrators lose visibility into critical GPRS traffic, which could mask malicious activities or hinder incident response efforts. This is especially concerning in environments where mobile network traffic analysis is crucial for security monitoring, such as telecommunications infrastructure security or forensic investigations. The vulnerability affects a specific version range of Ethereal, indicating that this was a targeted issue within the software's development lifecycle, and demonstrates how protocol analysis tools can become attack vectors themselves when not properly secured against malformed input. The remote exploit capability means that attackers can trigger the denial of service from anywhere on the network, making it particularly dangerous for systems that process untrusted network traffic.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability involve immediate software updates to patched versions of Ethereal that address the buffer handling issues in the GPRS-LLC dissector. System administrators should disable the "ignore cipher bit" option when processing untrusted network traffic, as this configuration directly enables the vulnerability. Network segmentation and access controls should be implemented to limit exposure to potentially malicious traffic sources. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of input validation and proper error handling in protocol analysis tools, as recommended by the OWASP Top Ten and MITRE ATT&CK framework for network security analysis. Organizations should implement robust network monitoring to detect application crashes or service disruptions that may indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing proper software configuration management practices can prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in other network analysis tools. The incident serves as a reminder that network protocol analyzers, while essential for security operations, must be hardened against malformed input to prevent them from becoming attack vectors themselves.