CVE-2015-2188 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
epan/dissectors/packet-wcp.c in the WCP dissector in Wireshark 1.10.x before 1.10.13 and 1.12.x before 1.12.4 does not properly initialize a data structure, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read and application crash) via a crafted packet that is improperly handled during decompression.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/11/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-2188 represents a critical flaw in the Wireshark network protocol analyzer software that affects versions prior to 1.10.13 and 1.12.4. This issue resides within the WCP dissector component responsible for analyzing Wireless Control Protocol traffic, which is commonly used in wireless communication systems. The vulnerability manifests as improper initialization of a data structure during packet processing, creating a condition where maliciously crafted packets can trigger unexpected behavior in the application's decompression routines.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from a lack of proper data structure initialization within the packet-wcp.c file, specifically affecting how the WCP dissector handles decompressed data. When Wireshark encounters a crafted packet that triggers the decompression process, the uninitialized data structure leads to an out-of-bounds read condition. This memory access violation occurs because the application attempts to read data from memory locations that have not been properly allocated or initialized, causing the application to crash and resulting in a denial of service condition. The flaw operates at the protocol dissector level, meaning it affects how Wireshark interprets and processes network traffic, making it particularly dangerous in network monitoring and analysis scenarios.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for network administrators and security professionals who rely on Wireshark for network traffic analysis and troubleshooting. Remote attackers can exploit this weakness by sending specially crafted packets to a system running vulnerable Wireshark versions, potentially causing the application to crash and terminate its operation. This denial of service attack effectively prevents network analysts from performing their monitoring duties, potentially masking other security issues or preventing timely incident response. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it can be triggered simply by capturing and analyzing network traffic, without requiring any special privileges or complex attack vectors, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors.
The impact of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-457, which describes "Use of Uninitialized Variable," and demonstrates how uninitialized memory access can lead to unpredictable behavior and system instability. This flaw also relates to ATT&CK technique T1070.004, which involves "Indicator Removal on Host: File Deletion," as the application crash may prevent proper logging or analysis of network traffic that could be critical for security monitoring. Organizations using Wireshark for network security operations should prioritize patching to address this vulnerability, as the denial of service condition can disrupt network monitoring capabilities and potentially interfere with incident response procedures. The recommended mitigation involves upgrading to Wireshark versions 1.10.13 or 1.12.4, which contain the necessary fixes to properly initialize the affected data structures and prevent the out-of-bounds read conditions that lead to application crashes.