CVE-2013-1572 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
The dissect_oampdu_event_notification function in epan/dissectors/packet-slowprotocols.c in the IEEE 802.3 Slow Protocols dissector in Wireshark 1.6.x before 1.6.13 and 1.8.x before 1.8.5 does not properly handle certain short lengths, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via a malformed packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/22/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-1572 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Wireshark's network protocol analysis capabilities. This issue specifically affects the IEEE 802.3 Slow Protocols dissector, which is responsible for interpreting and displaying network traffic related to slow protocols such as Link Layer Discovery Protocol and other management protocols. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of packet length validation within the dissect_oampdu_event_notification function, creating a scenario where malformed network traffic can trigger unexpected behavior in the analysis software.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the insufficient input validation mechanisms within the packet dissector code. When Wireshark processes network packets containing malformed length fields in the Slow Protocols dissector, the dissect_oampdu_event_notification function fails to properly validate the packet structure before attempting to parse it. This lack of proper boundary checking allows attackers to craft specially formatted packets with intentionally short or invalid length values that cause the dissector to enter an infinite loop during processing. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the protocol analysis layer, meaning that any network traffic passing through Wireshark's capture and analysis system could potentially trigger this condition regardless of the underlying network protocol being analyzed.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it represents a significant threat to network monitoring and security operations. Network administrators and security analysts who rely on Wireshark for traffic analysis and incident response activities face the risk of complete system unavailability when processing maliciously crafted packets. The infinite loop condition consumes system resources indefinitely, potentially leading to system crashes, performance degradation, or complete system hang situations. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability of network analysis tools that are critical for maintaining network security and operational integrity, as the affected software becomes unusable until manually restarted.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected Wireshark versions to the patched releases 1.6.13 and 1.8.5 respectively. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious traffic, while also considering the deployment of network-based intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malformed packets before they reach the Wireshark analysis environment. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of length fields, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks. Security professionals should also consider implementing traffic filtering rules that prevent malformed packets from reaching analysis systems, while maintaining regular patch management schedules to address similar vulnerabilities in network analysis tools.