CVE-2015-3814 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
The (1) dissect_tfs_request and (2) dissect_tfs_response functions in epan/dissectors/packet-ieee80211.c in the IEEE 802.11 dissector in Wireshark 1.10.x before 1.10.14 and 1.12.x before 1.12.5 interpret a zero value as a length rather than an error condition, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via a crafted packet.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/17/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-3814 resides within the IEEE 802.11 dissector component of Wireshark, specifically affecting versions 1.10.x prior to 1.10.14 and 1.12.x prior to 1.12.5. This flaw manifests in two distinct functions: dissect_tfs_request and dissect_tfs_response, which are responsible for parsing and interpreting wireless network traffic data. The core issue stems from improper input validation where the dissector fails to correctly handle zero-length values during packet processing, creating a critical logic error that can be exploited by remote attackers. The vulnerability represents a classic example of improper error handling and input validation, categorized under CWE-691, where insufficient checks lead to potentially dangerous program states.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a malicious actor crafts a specially formatted IEEE 802.11 packet containing a zero value that the dissector interprets as a legitimate length parameter rather than recognizing it as an invalid or error condition. When Wireshark processes such packets, the dissector functions enter an infinite loop because they fail to properly terminate their parsing operations when encountering this unexpected zero-length value. This condition causes the application to consume excessive CPU resources and effectively becomes unresponsive, resulting in a denial of service scenario that impacts the entire network analysis workflow. The flaw demonstrates how seemingly minor input validation gaps can lead to significant operational disruptions in network security tools.
The operational impact of CVE-2015-3814 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise network monitoring capabilities and analyst productivity. Network security professionals who rely on Wireshark for traffic analysis and incident response may find their tools rendered unusable when processing maliciously crafted packets, particularly in environments where automated network monitoring systems are employed. This vulnerability affects the fundamental functionality of packet analysis tools that are critical for network security operations, making it a significant concern for organizations that depend on real-time traffic inspection for threat detection. The infinite loop condition can persist until manual intervention occurs, potentially allowing attackers to maintain their denial of service attack for extended periods.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-3814 primarily involve upgrading to patched versions of Wireshark where the dissector functions have been corrected to properly handle zero-length values as error conditions rather than valid length parameters. The fix implemented in versions 1.10.14 and 1.12.5 ensures that when zero values are encountered during packet parsing, the dissector terminates the processing loop appropriately instead of entering an infinite loop. Network administrators should also implement network segmentation and monitoring to detect anomalous packet patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, while security teams should consider deploying additional network traffic analysis tools as redundancy measures. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1498, which focuses on resource exhaustion attacks, and represents a common pattern in network protocol parsing where inadequate input validation creates exploitable conditions that can be leveraged for denial of service attacks.