CVE-2012-4292 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
The dissect_stun_message function in epan/dissectors/packet-stun.c in the STUN dissector in Wireshark 1.4.x before 1.4.15, 1.6.x before 1.6.10, and 1.8.x before 1.8.2 does not properly interact with key-destruction behavior in a certain tree library, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a malformed packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/27/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-4292 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Wireshark's Session Traversal Utilities for NAT (STUN) protocol dissector. This issue affects multiple versions of Wireshark including 1.4.x before 1.4.15, 1.6.x before 1.6.10, and 1.8.x before 1.8.2, making it a widespread concern for network security professionals who rely on Wireshark for protocol analysis and network troubleshooting. The flaw specifically resides in the dissect_stun_message function located in epan/dissectors/packet-stun.c, which handles the parsing and interpretation of STUN protocol packets within the network traffic analysis tool.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper interaction between the STUN dissector and a tree library's key-destruction behavior. When processing malformed STUN packets, the dissector fails to handle memory management correctly during the destruction of key structures, leading to memory corruption that ultimately results in application crashes. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-121, which describes heap-based buffer overflow conditions, and more specifically relates to improper handling of memory deallocation in tree data structures. The flaw occurs because the dissector does not properly validate or sanitize input data before attempting to process STUN message structures, particularly when encountering malformed or unexpected packet formats.
The operational impact of CVE-2012-4292 is significant for network security operations and forensics teams who depend on Wireshark for network analysis. Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting specifically malformed STUN packets that, when processed by an affected Wireshark instance, will cause the application to crash and terminate unexpectedly. This denial of service condition effectively prevents network analysts from performing their critical monitoring and troubleshooting activities, potentially disrupting network security operations and incident response procedures. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because STUN protocol is commonly used in VoIP applications, NAT traversal scenarios, and other network services, making it likely that attackers could exploit this flaw in various network environments. From an attack methodology perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a classic example of how protocol parsing vulnerabilities can be leveraged for system disruption.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability involve immediate patching of affected Wireshark installations to versions 1.4.15, 1.6.10, or 1.8.2, which contain the necessary fixes for proper memory handling in the STUN dissector. Network administrators should also implement network monitoring to detect and block suspicious STUN traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious STUN traffic, particularly in environments where Wireshark is used for network monitoring. The fix implemented in the patched versions addresses the improper interaction with the tree library's key-destruction behavior by ensuring proper memory management during packet processing and adding appropriate input validation mechanisms to prevent the corruption conditions that led to the application crashes.