CVE-2013-1585 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
epan/tvbuff.c in Wireshark 1.6.x before 1.6.13 and 1.8.x before 1.8.5 does not properly validate certain length values for the MS-MMC dissector, 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 • 12/22/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-1585 resides within the Wireshark network protocol analyzer software, specifically in the epan/tvbuff.c file that handles the MS-MMC dissector functionality. This flaw affects versions 1.6.x prior to 1.6.13 and 1.8.x prior to 1.8.5, representing a critical denial of service vulnerability that can be exploited remotely by attackers to crash the application. The issue stems from inadequate validation of length parameters within the MS-MMC protocol dissector, which is responsible for analyzing Microsoft Message Queuing protocol traffic. When processing malformed packets containing improperly structured length fields, the dissector fails to properly validate these values before attempting to process them, leading to memory corruption and subsequent application crash.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a remote attacker crafts a specially malformed packet that contains invalid length values within the MS-MMC protocol structure. The dissector attempts to process these malformed length fields without proper bounds checking or validation, causing the application to allocate memory incorrectly or access invalid memory locations. This improper handling of length values represents a classic buffer over-read or integer overflow condition that falls under CWE-129, which specifically addresses insufficient validation of length values. The vulnerability operates at the protocol analysis layer where Wireshark processes captured network traffic, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered simply by analyzing malicious network packets without requiring any special privileges or user interaction.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents 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 could potentially crash Wireshark instances on systems where network monitoring is performed, disrupting critical network analysis operations. The denial of service impact extends beyond simple application crash, as it can affect the integrity of network investigations and potentially provide an attacker with information about the target system's network analysis tools. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001 which covers network denial of service attacks, and represents a significant weakness in the network monitoring toolchain that could be leveraged in broader attack campaigns. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where Wireshark is commonly used for security monitoring and incident response activities.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-1585 focus primarily on immediate software updates to patched versions of Wireshark. Users should upgrade to Wireshark 1.6.13 or 1.8.5, which contain the necessary fixes for proper length validation within the MS-MMC dissector. Additionally, network administrators should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potentially malicious traffic that could trigger this vulnerability. The fix implemented in the patched versions includes enhanced input validation that checks length parameters against expected ranges before processing, preventing the malformed packet from causing memory corruption. Organizations should also implement monitoring for unusual application crashes or restarts in network analysis systems, as these could indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should maintain updated threat intelligence feeds to identify potential exploitation attempts and ensure that all network monitoring tools remain current with the latest security patches, following the principle of least privilege and regular security maintenance to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in the future.