CVE-2006-1932 in Ethereal
Summary
by MITRE
Off-by-one error in the OID printing routine in Ethereal 0.10.x up to 0.10.14 has unknown impact and remote attack vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/17/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2006-1932 represents a critical off-by-one error within the Object Identifier (OID) printing functionality of Ethereal network protocol analyzer versions 0.10.x through 0.10.14. This flaw exists in the software's handling of OID values during packet analysis and display operations, where the boundary condition check fails to properly account for the exact number of bytes being processed. The vulnerability manifests when Ethereal attempts to format and display OID values extracted from network traffic, particularly in protocols such as SNMP where OIDs are frequently encountered. The off-by-one error creates a situation where one additional byte is processed or rendered beyond the intended boundary, potentially leading to memory corruption or unexpected behavior in the application's output routines.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper buffer management within the OID printing routine that processes ASN.1 encoded values. When Ethereal encounters an OID in captured network traffic, it attempts to convert the binary representation into a human-readable string format for display in the graphical interface or log output. The flaw occurs during this conversion process where the routine fails to properly validate the length of the OID data structure, causing it to access memory locations beyond the allocated buffer space. This memory access violation can result in arbitrary code execution or application crash when the malformed OID data is processed, particularly in scenarios where the network traffic contains specially crafted malicious OID values. The vulnerability's remote attack vector capability arises from the fact that Ethereal processes network packets from any source without sufficient input validation, making it susceptible to exploitation through network-based attacks.
The operational impact of CVE-2006-1932 extends beyond simple application instability, as it represents a potential path for remote code execution within the context of network monitoring operations. When an attacker can craft network traffic containing maliciously formatted OIDs, they can potentially trigger the off-by-one error during packet analysis, leading to system compromise. This vulnerability is particularly concerning for security professionals who rely on Ethereal for network traffic analysis, as the tool itself becomes a potential attack surface. The unknown impact designation reflects the difficulty in predicting the exact consequences of memory corruption, which could manifest as denial of service, information disclosure, or even full system compromise depending on the execution environment and available privileges. Network administrators monitoring traffic with vulnerable versions of Ethereal face significant risk, as simply analyzing malicious network traffic could result in system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate software updates to versions 0.10.15 or later where the off-by-one error has been corrected through proper boundary condition validation. System administrators should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious traffic, while also considering the deployment of alternative network analysis tools that have been verified as free from similar vulnerabilities. The fix implemented by the Ethereal development team typically involves adding proper bounds checking to the OID processing routine, ensuring that buffer access operations respect the actual data length rather than allowing one additional byte to be processed. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring solutions that can detect and filter out potentially malicious OID values before they reach the protocol analyzer, as this represents a defense-in-depth approach to protecting against such vulnerabilities. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of array index bounds, and may map to ATT&CK technique T1059 for execution through network protocols, highlighting the critical nature of maintaining up-to-date network security tools and understanding their potential attack surfaces.