CVE-2007-6112 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in the PPP dissector Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) 0.99.6 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via unknown vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/31/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-6112 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) dissector component of Wireshark version 0.99.6. This issue arises from inadequate input validation and memory management within the network protocol analysis tool's packet parsing functionality. The vulnerability manifests when Wireshark processes specially crafted PPP packets, leading to potential system compromise through remote code execution or denial of service conditions.
The technical nature of this buffer overflow stems from improper bounds checking during packet data processing within the PPP dissector module. When Wireshark encounters malformed PPP frames containing excessive data in specific fields, the application fails to properly validate buffer limits before copying data into internal memory structures. This flaw falls under the CWE-121 category of stack-based buffer overflow, where insufficient boundary checks allow attackers to overwrite adjacent memory locations. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the protocol parsing layer, making it accessible through normal network traffic analysis operations.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to network security professionals who rely on Wireshark for network monitoring and forensic analysis. Attackers can exploit this flaw by crafting malicious PPP packets and transmitting them to a victim running the vulnerable Wireshark version. Upon processing these packets, the application crashes due to memory corruption, resulting in denial of service that disrupts network analysis operations. More critically, the buffer overflow condition could potentially be leveraged to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running Wireshark, providing attackers with unauthorized access to the system.
The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as this vulnerability affects the fundamental security posture of network analysis environments. Security teams using Wireshark for intrusion detection, network troubleshooting, and forensic investigations face potential compromise when the tool encounters malicious traffic. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal network access and can be automated, making it particularly attractive to threat actors seeking to compromise network monitoring infrastructure. Organizations that depend on Wireshark for critical network operations must consider this vulnerability as a potential entry point for broader network attacks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2007-6112 involve immediate patching of affected Wireshark installations to version 0.99.7 or later, which contains the necessary memory validation fixes. Network administrators should also implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of systems running vulnerable versions. Additional protective measures include implementing network monitoring to detect and block suspicious PPP traffic patterns, disabling unnecessary protocol dissectors when possible, and maintaining updated network security tooling. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of input validation and memory safety practices in network security tools, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter usage and T1489 for network disruption. Organizations should also consider implementing network behavior analysis to detect anomalous packet processing patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts.