CVE-2014-5162 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
The read_new_line function in wiretap/catapult_dct2000.c in the Catapult DCT2000 dissector in Wireshark 1.10.x before 1.10.9 does not properly strip '\n' and '\r' characters, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (off-by-one buffer underflow and application crash) via a crafted packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/10/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5162 resides within the Catapult DCT2000 dissector component of Wireshark, specifically in the read_new_line function located in wiretap/catapult_dct2000.c. This flaw represents a classic buffer manipulation issue that affects version 1.10.x releases prior to 1.10.9, creating a significant security risk for network analysis tools that rely on proper packet parsing. The dissector is responsible for interpreting and displaying network traffic data from Catapult DCT2000 devices, which are used in various telecommunications and networking environments for monitoring and analysis purposes.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of newline characters during packet data processing. When the read_new_line function encounters specially crafted packets containing carriage return and line feed characters, it fails to adequately strip these control characters from the data buffer. This insufficient character sanitization leads to an off-by-one buffer underflow condition where the function attempts to access memory locations beyond the allocated buffer boundaries. The vulnerability manifests as a buffer underflow that occurs during the processing of network packet data, specifically when the function tries to read beyond the intended buffer limits while handling newline sequences.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and directly translates to a denial of service condition that can completely crash the Wireshark application. Remote attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious network packets that contain specifically formatted newline characters, causing the application to crash and become unavailable for legitimate network analysis tasks. This type of attack represents a critical threat to network security operations since Wireshark is widely used by security professionals, network administrators, and forensic analysts for monitoring network traffic and identifying potential security incidents. The crash occurs during normal packet processing operations, making it particularly dangerous as it can disrupt ongoing network monitoring activities and potentially prevent security teams from investigating actual network threats.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes the weakness of stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a variant of buffer underflow scenarios that are common in network protocol parsing implementations. The attack pattern follows typical remote exploitation techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1499 category for network denial of service attacks, where adversaries target application stability through malformed input processing. The flaw demonstrates how seemingly benign character handling operations can create critical security vulnerabilities in network analysis tools that process untrusted data from network traffic. Organizations relying on Wireshark for network monitoring and security analysis should immediately implement mitigations including updating to patched versions, implementing network segmentation, and deploying additional monitoring controls to detect and prevent exploitation attempts.
The remediation for this vulnerability requires updating to Wireshark version 1.10.9 or later, which contains the necessary patches to properly handle newline character stripping in the Catapult DCT2000 dissector. Security administrators should also consider implementing network traffic filtering rules that can identify and block suspicious packet patterns that may contain the malicious character sequences. Additionally, organizations should maintain comprehensive backup and recovery procedures for network monitoring infrastructure to ensure business continuity in case of successful exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and buffer management in network protocol analysis tools, emphasizing that even minor parsing flaws can have significant operational impacts on security infrastructure.