CVE-2013-2477 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
The CSN.1 dissector in Wireshark 1.8.x before 1.8.6 does not properly manage function pointers, 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 • 05/06/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2477 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Wireshark's CSN.1 dissector component. This issue affects Wireshark versions 1.8.x prior to 1.8.6, where the dissector fails to properly handle function pointers during packet processing. The CSN.1 dissector is responsible for parsing and analyzing Communication Service Network Application Part protocol packets, which are commonly used in telecommunications signaling. When a malformed packet containing crafted CSN.1 data is processed by the affected version of Wireshark, the improper function pointer management causes the application to crash unpredictably.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper handling of function pointers within the dissector's code structure. Function pointers are essential elements in C programming that allow dynamic function calls, but when not properly managed, they can lead to memory corruption or execution flow disruption. In this case, the dissector's implementation fails to validate or sanitize incoming packet data before attempting to invoke function pointers, creating a scenario where maliciously crafted packets can trigger unexpected behavior. The flaw specifically manifests when the dissector encounters malformed CSN.1 packets that contain invalid or unexpected pointer references, causing the application to dereference invalid memory locations and subsequently crash.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-2477 extends beyond simple application instability, as it can be exploited by remote attackers to disrupt network monitoring operations. Network security professionals and analysts who rely on Wireshark for traffic analysis and troubleshooting become vulnerable to this attack vector, potentially compromising their ability to investigate network issues or detect security incidents. When an attacker sends a specially crafted CSN.1 packet to a system running the vulnerable Wireshark version, the application will terminate unexpectedly, forcing users to restart the application and potentially losing valuable network traffic data. This denial of service condition can be particularly disruptive in production environments where continuous network monitoring is critical for security operations.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-476, which describes NULL pointer dereference issues in software implementations. From an ATT&CK perspective, this flaw maps to the T1489 technique for "Service Stop" and can be considered a variant of T1070.004 for "File and Directory Permissions Modification" in cases where attackers might attempt to exploit the crash to gain further system access. The security implications extend to the broader network monitoring ecosystem, as organizations may need to implement immediate patch management procedures to protect their network analysis infrastructure. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and memory management in network protocol analysis tools, particularly those handling complex telecommunications protocols like CSN.1. Organizations should prioritize updating to Wireshark 1.8.6 or later versions to mitigate this risk, while also implementing network segmentation to prevent unauthorized access to monitoring systems that may be vulnerable to such exploits.