CVE-2012-4293 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
plugins/ethercat/packet-ecatmb.c in the EtherCAT Mailbox 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 handle certain integer fields, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application exit) via a malformed packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/27/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-4293 resides within the EtherCAT Mailbox dissector component of Wireshark, specifically in the packet-ecatmb.c file that processes EtherCAT mailbox protocol packets. This flaw 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, representing a significant security gap that persisted across several release branches of the popular network protocol analyzer.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of integer fields within the EtherCAT mailbox dissector logic. When Wireshark encounters a malformed EtherCAT mailbox packet containing specially crafted integer values, the dissector fails to validate these fields properly before processing them. This inadequate input validation leads to integer overflow or underflow conditions that cause the application to crash and terminate unexpectedly. The vulnerability operates at the protocol parsing layer where network traffic is analyzed and displayed, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered simply by capturing and analyzing malicious network traffic.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a remote denial of service threat that can be exploited by attackers without requiring any special privileges or authentication. An attacker positioned to intercept network traffic containing EtherCAT packets can craft malicious packets that trigger the integer handling flaw in Wireshark, causing the application to crash and exit. This effectively renders the network analysis tool unusable for the victim, disrupting network monitoring and troubleshooting activities that depend on Wireshark functionality. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption as it can affect network administrators who rely on continuous monitoring capabilities for operational security and incident response activities.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of input boundaries, and demonstrates characteristics consistent with CWE-191, integer underflow or overflow conditions. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to the ATT&CK technique T1499.004, specifically targeting network denial of service conditions, and represents a classic example of how protocol parsing flaws can lead to application instability. The flaw's exploitation requires minimal technical expertise and can be automated, making it attractive to threat actors seeking to disrupt network monitoring operations. Organizations using Wireshark for network analysis, industrial control system monitoring, or security operations centers would be particularly vulnerable to this type of disruption.
Mitigation strategies include immediate patching of affected Wireshark versions to the corrected releases, implementing network segmentation to limit exposure to potentially malicious EtherCAT traffic, and deploying network monitoring solutions that can detect and block malformed packets before they reach the Wireshark analysis layer. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network access controls that restrict EtherCAT traffic to authorized segments and establish monitoring procedures to detect application crashes or unexpected exits in network analysis tools. Regular security assessments of network monitoring tools and maintaining up-to-date software versions remain critical defensive measures against this class of vulnerability.