CVE-2011-2174 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
Double free vulnerability in the tvb_uncompress function in epan/tvbuff.c in Wireshark 1.2.x before 1.2.17 and 1.4.x before 1.4.7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a packet with malformed data that uses zlib compression.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/08/2021
The CVE-2011-2174 vulnerability represents a critical double free error in Wireshark's packet analysis engine that fundamentally compromises the application's memory management integrity. This flaw exists within the tvb_uncompress function located in epan/tvbuff.c, a core component responsible for handling data buffers during packet processing. The vulnerability specifically affects Wireshark versions 1.2.x prior to 1.2.17 and 1.4.x prior to 1.4.7, making it a widespread issue across multiple stable release lines. The double free condition occurs when the application attempts to release the same memory block twice, which creates a predictable memory corruption pattern that can be exploited by malicious actors.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability leverages the zlib compression functionality within Wireshark's packet processing pipeline. When a remote attacker crafts a specially malformed packet containing compressed data, the tvb_uncompress function processes this data without proper validation of the compression parameters. The flaw manifests during decompression operations where the application's memory management routines fail to properly track allocated memory blocks, resulting in the same memory region being freed multiple times. This creates a heap corruption state that fundamentally undermines the application's stability and can lead to arbitrary code execution or complete application crash.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant threat to network monitoring and security analysis environments that rely on Wireshark for packet inspection. The remote attack vector means that adversaries can exploit this flaw without requiring local access to the system, making it particularly dangerous in networked environments where packet capture is performed on public or untrusted networks. The denial of service impact can severely disrupt network troubleshooting, security monitoring, and forensic analysis activities, potentially causing critical infrastructure monitoring systems to become unavailable during security incidents. Organizations using affected Wireshark versions face the risk of complete application failure, data loss, and potential information disclosure through memory corruption artifacts.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-415, which specifically addresses double free conditions in memory management, and demonstrates a clear path for exploitation through the ATT&CK framework's T1059.007 technique for command and control through application layer protocols. Network security teams must prioritize immediate patching of affected systems, as the vulnerability can be triggered by simply processing a single malicious packet. Mitigation strategies should include implementing network segmentation to limit exposure, deploying intrusion detection systems to monitor for suspicious packet patterns, and establishing robust patch management procedures to ensure all network analysis tools remain current with security updates. The incident highlights the importance of thorough memory management validation in network protocol analysis tools and underscores the critical nature of maintaining updated security patches in enterprise environments where such tools are deployed for continuous monitoring operations.