CVE-2007-3392 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
Wireshark before 0.99.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via malformed (1) SSL or (2) MMS packets that trigger an infinite loop.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/20/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-3392 represents a critical denial of service flaw in Wireshark versions prior to 0.99.6 that affects network protocol analysis tools widely used by security professionals and network administrators. This vulnerability manifests when the packet capture and analysis software processes malformed SSL or MMS protocol packets, causing the application to enter an infinite loop that consumes excessive system resources and ultimately renders the tool unusable. The flaw demonstrates a classic buffer over-read or processing error that occurs during the parsing of malformed network traffic, where the application fails to properly validate input data before attempting to process it.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms within Wireshark's protocol dissectors for both SSL and MMS protocols. When the software encounters malformed packets that do not conform to expected protocol structures, the dissectors fail to implement proper bounds checking or loop termination conditions. This results in the application entering a continuous processing loop where it repeatedly attempts to parse the malformed data without advancing through the packet stream. The vulnerability maps directly to CWE-835, which describes the weakness of an infinite loop or infinite recursion in software systems, and represents a failure in proper input validation and error handling mechanisms.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risk to network security operations and incident response activities. Network analysts and security teams who rely on Wireshark for traffic analysis and forensic investigations could have their tools rendered completely non-functional by a single malicious packet or by inadvertently capturing traffic from compromised systems. The impact extends beyond simple denial of service as it affects the integrity of network monitoring operations, potentially leaving organizations blind to ongoing attacks or security incidents. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability to disrupt network analysis activities in environments where Wireshark is used for real-time monitoring or during security investigations.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability involves immediate upgrade to Wireshark version 0.99.6 or later, which includes proper input validation and loop termination logic in the affected protocol dissectors. Network administrators should also implement additional monitoring to detect unusual resource consumption patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious traffic. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001, which covers network disruption through resource exhaustion, and demonstrates how seemingly minor protocol parsing flaws can have significant operational impacts on security tooling and network monitoring capabilities.