CVE-2012-4296 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
Buffer overflow in epan/dissectors/packet-rtps2.c in the RTPS2 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 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a malformed packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/15/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-4296 represents a critical buffer overflow condition within the Real-Time Publish-Subscribe Protocol version 2 dissector of Wireshark, specifically affecting versions prior to the mentioned secure releases. This flaw resides in the packet-rtps2.c file within the epan/dissectors directory, where the RTPS2 dissector processes network packets for protocol analysis. The buffer overflow occurs when Wireshark encounters malformed RTPS2 packets during network traffic capture and analysis, creating a scenario where attacker-controlled input can corrupt memory structures and potentially disrupt normal application behavior.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a classic buffer overflow exploit pattern where insufficient input validation allows an attacker to supply malformed packet data that exceeds the allocated buffer space. When Wireshark's RTPS2 dissector processes these crafted packets, the excessive data overflows into adjacent memory regions, causing unpredictable behavior and system instability. This particular implementation affects the dissector's ability to properly parse and interpret protocol fields, leading to resource exhaustion and elevated cpu consumption that can ultimately result in complete denial of service for the network analysis application.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to network security analysts and forensic investigators who rely on Wireshark for network traffic analysis. The remote exploitation capability means that an attacker can trigger the denial of service condition without requiring local access to the target system, simply by transmitting specially crafted RTPS2 packets to a system running vulnerable Wireshark versions. The CPU consumption spike that occurs during packet processing creates a practical denial of service condition where legitimate network analysis activities become impossible, potentially masking malicious network activity or preventing critical security investigations from completing. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability of network monitoring capabilities and can be particularly problematic in environments where continuous network analysis is required for security operations.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes the classic stack-based buffer overflow condition, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1498, which covers network denial of service attacks. Organizations utilizing Wireshark for network monitoring should implement immediate mitigations including updating to patched versions of the software, implementing network segmentation to limit exposure, and deploying intrusion detection systems that can identify and block suspicious RTPS2 traffic patterns. The recommended remediation strategy involves upgrading to Wireshark versions 1.4.15, 1.6.10, or 1.8.2 respectively, which contain the necessary code fixes to properly validate input data and prevent buffer overflow conditions during packet processing. Additionally, network administrators should consider implementing traffic filtering rules that can prevent malformed RTPS2 packets from reaching systems running vulnerable Wireshark versions, reducing the attack surface and protecting critical network monitoring infrastructure from exploitation.