CVE-2009-4377 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
The (1) SMB and (2) SMB2 dissectors in Wireshark 0.9.0 through 1.2.4 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted packet that triggers a NULL pointer dereference, as demonstrated by fuzz-2009-12-07-11141.pcap.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/30/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-4377 represents a critical denial of service flaw affecting Wireshark network protocol analyzers version 0.9.0 through 1.2.4. This issue specifically targets the SMB and SMB2 dissectors within the network analysis tool, which are responsible for interpreting and displaying server message block protocol traffic. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and error handling within the packet parsing routines that process SMB network communications. When a maliciously crafted packet is processed by these dissectors, the software encounters a NULL pointer dereference condition that leads to an immediate crash of the application. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-476 which specifically addresses NULL pointer dereference conditions that can result in application instability and system crashes. The vulnerability was demonstrated through a specific packet capture file named fuzz-2009-12-07-11141.pcap, which contained the precise malformed data structure designed to trigger the exploitable condition.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits the fundamental parsing mechanisms used by Wireshark to analyze network traffic. When the SMB and SMB2 dissectors encounter malformed packets containing unexpected data structures or missing fields, the parsing logic fails to properly validate pointer references before attempting to access memory locations. This particular flaw manifests as a NULL pointer dereference because the dissectors assume certain data structures will be present and properly initialized, but when these assumptions are violated by crafted malicious input, the software attempts to dereference a NULL pointer, causing an immediate segmentation fault. The vulnerability demonstrates the classic characteristics of a buffer overflow or memory access violation pattern, though specifically classified as a NULL pointer dereference rather than an actual buffer overflow. The impact is particularly severe because Wireshark is commonly used in network monitoring and security analysis environments where continuous operation is critical, making this denial of service attack potentially disruptive to network operations.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to network security teams and administrators who rely on Wireshark for network traffic analysis and incident response activities. The remote exploitation capability means that an attacker positioned on the same network segment or capable of sending crafted packets to a system running Wireshark could remotely crash the application without requiring any authentication or elevated privileges. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where Wireshark is used for continuous network monitoring or in security operations centers where analysts may be analyzing suspicious traffic from potentially hostile sources. The vulnerability's impact extends beyond simple application crash, as it can disrupt network analysis workflows, potentially causing analysts to miss critical security events or network anomalies. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001 which covers network denial of service attacks, and the broader category of adversary tactics focused on maintaining access and avoiding detection through service disruption.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2009-4377 involves immediate upgrading of affected Wireshark versions to patched releases that address the NULL pointer dereference conditions in the SMB and SMB2 dissectors. Organizations should prioritize updating their network analysis tools to versions that have been verified to contain the necessary fixes for this vulnerability. Additionally, network administrators should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious traffic that could trigger this vulnerability. Monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual network traffic patterns that might indicate attempts to exploit this vulnerability, though the specific nature of the exploit makes detection challenging since it operates at the protocol parsing layer rather than at higher application layers. The vulnerability highlights the importance of robust input validation and defensive programming practices in network analysis tools, particularly those handling untrusted network data. Organizations should also consider implementing additional network monitoring and intrusion detection systems that can detect and alert on anomalous network traffic patterns that might precede or accompany exploitation attempts.