CVE-2013-6337 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
Unspecified vulnerability in the NBAP dissector in Wireshark 1.8.x before 1.8.11 and 1.10.x before 1.10.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/01/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-6337 represents a critical denial of service weakness within Wireshark's Network Basic Access Profile dissector implementation. This flaw affects versions 1.8.x prior to 1.8.11 and 1.10.x prior to 1.10.3, making it a widespread issue that impacted numerous users of the popular network protocol analyzer. The vulnerability specifically resides in how Wireshark processes NBAP protocol packets, which are used in telecommunications networks for basic access control and session management. The flaw enables remote attackers to trigger application instability through the careful crafting of malicious network packets that exploit memory handling deficiencies in the dissector component.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory management within the NBAP dissector module. When Wireshark encounters a malformed NBAP packet, the dissector fails to properly handle the unexpected data structure, leading to memory corruption that ultimately results in application crash. This represents a classic buffer overflow or memory management error pattern that falls under the CWE-125 vulnerability category, specifically related to out-of-bounds read conditions that can lead to arbitrary code execution or system instability. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires no authentication or special privileges beyond network access to the target system running Wireshark, making it a remote attack that can be executed from anywhere on the network.
The operational impact of CVE-2013-6337 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise network monitoring capabilities that organizations rely upon for security operations and network troubleshooting. When an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can cause Wireshark to crash and terminate unexpectedly, which means that network administrators lose visibility into network traffic at critical moments. This is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where network monitoring is essential for detecting security incidents, troubleshooting connectivity issues, or maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements. The vulnerability can be exploited in various attack scenarios including passive network monitoring, where an attacker passively observes network traffic and then injects malicious packets to crash monitoring tools, or through active probing campaigns designed to identify vulnerable systems. Organizations using Wireshark for network security analysis may find their monitoring infrastructure unreliable, potentially creating blind spots in their security posture.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability primarily involve immediate software updates to patched versions of Wireshark where the dissector has been corrected to properly handle malformed NBAP packets. System administrators should prioritize updating to Wireshark 1.8.11 or 1.10.3 and later versions that contain the necessary fixes for this memory handling issue. Additionally, network segmentation and access controls can help limit the exposure of systems running Wireshark to untrusted network segments, reducing the attack surface. Implementing network monitoring solutions that can detect and alert on unusual packet patterns may also provide early warning of potential exploitation attempts. From a defensive perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which covers network denial of service attacks, and demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date network security tools to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities. Organizations should also consider implementing network access control policies that limit which systems can run protocol analyzers and ensure that network monitoring tools are configured with appropriate input validation and error handling mechanisms to prevent similar issues from occurring in other network analysis tools.