CVE-2017-9346 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
In Wireshark 2.2.0 to 2.2.6 and 2.0.0 to 2.0.12, the SoulSeek dissector could go into an infinite loop. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/packet-slsk.c by making loop bounds more explicit.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/07/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-9346 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Wireshark's network protocol analysis capabilities. This issue affected specific versions of Wireshark including releases 2.2.0 through 2.2.6 and 2.0.0 through 2.0.12, where the SoulSeek dissector component exhibited problematic behavior that could lead to complete system unresponsiveness. The SoulSeek protocol dissector is responsible for analyzing and interpreting network traffic related to the SoulSeek file sharing protocol, which was widely used in peer-to-peer file sharing networks during the early 2010s.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate loop boundary checking within the packet-slsk.c file that handles the SoulSeek protocol parsing. When processing specially crafted network packets that conform to the SoulSeek protocol specifications, the dissector would enter an infinite loop due to missing or insufficient validation of loop termination conditions. This flaw falls under the category of CWE-835, which specifically addresses the issue of infinite loops or other forms of indefinite looping in software implementations. The absence of proper loop bounds allowed maliciously constructed packets to cause the dissector to continuously iterate without reaching a natural termination point, effectively consuming system resources and rendering the Wireshark application unresponsive.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application instability to encompass broader network analysis capabilities. Network security professionals and analysts who rely on Wireshark for packet inspection and network troubleshooting could find their tools completely non-functional when encountering legitimate or malicious SoulSeek traffic. This represents a significant concern in environments where continuous network monitoring is required, as the vulnerability could be exploited to disrupt network analysis operations or potentially used as a vector for more sophisticated attacks. The flaw directly impacts the ATT&CK technique T1496, which involves resource exhaustion through denial of service attacks, making it particularly dangerous in operational security contexts where network analysis tools must remain available and responsive.
The remediation implemented by the Wireshark development team involved modifying the packet-slsk.c file to establish explicit loop bounds and proper validation mechanisms within the SoulSeek dissector. This fix ensures that iterative processing of protocol data maintains proper termination conditions, preventing the infinite loop scenario that previously occurred. The solution aligns with security best practices for defensive programming and demonstrates the importance of rigorous input validation in protocol parsing components. Organizations using affected Wireshark versions should immediately upgrade to patched releases to eliminate this vulnerability and maintain the integrity of their network analysis capabilities. The fix represents a fundamental improvement in the robustness of the protocol dissector architecture and serves as a valuable example of how seemingly minor implementation details can have significant security implications in network analysis tools.