CVE-2005-2365 in Ethereal
Summary
by MITRE
Unknown vulnerability in the SMB dissector in Ethereal 0.9.0 through 0.10.11 allows remote attackers to cause a buffer overflow or a denial of service (memory consumption) via unknown attack vectors.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/11/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2005-2365 represents a critical buffer overflow issue within the Server Message Block SMB dissector of Ethereal network protocol analyzer version 0.9.0 through 0.10.11. This flaw resides in the packet parsing functionality that processes SMB protocol traffic, which is fundamental to Windows networking and file sharing operations. The SMB protocol dissector is responsible for interpreting and displaying SMB packets in a human-readable format within the network analysis interface, making it a core component of the tool's functionality.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation within the SMB dissector module, where the application fails to properly bounds-check data received from network packets before copying it into fixed-size memory buffers. This allows attackers to craft specially malformed SMB packets that, when processed by the vulnerable Ethereal version, trigger memory corruption through buffer overflow conditions. The vulnerability manifests through unknown attack vectors that exploit the dissector's handling of malformed SMB protocol data structures, potentially leading to memory exhaustion or application crashes during packet processing.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service, as it presents a potential path for remote code execution if attackers can successfully manipulate the memory layout and overwrite critical program execution pointers. Network administrators and security professionals using these vulnerable versions of Ethereal face significant risks when analyzing network traffic that may contain malicious SMB packets, as the tool itself becomes a potential attack surface. The vulnerability affects any system running the affected Ethereal versions when processing SMB traffic, making it particularly dangerous in environments where network monitoring is performed on potentially hostile networks.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a classic example of memory safety issues in network protocol analysis tools. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1046 Network Service Scanning and T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service, as it enables attackers to disrupt network monitoring capabilities and potentially gain unauthorized access to systems through memory corruption exploitation. The vulnerability demonstrates how network analysis tools, when compromised, can become attack vectors themselves rather than defensive mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate upgrading to Ethereal version 0.10.12 or later, where the buffer overflow conditions have been addressed through proper input validation and bounds checking mechanisms. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect and prevent the injection of malformed SMB packets into their monitoring environments. Additionally, security teams should consider deploying network protocol analysis tools with more robust memory management practices and regular security updates to prevent similar vulnerabilities from compromising network monitoring capabilities. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date network security tools and the potential risks associated with protocol analysis software serving as attack vectors in network security operations.