CVE-2018-10105 in tcpdump
Summary
by MITRE
tcpdump before 4.9.3 mishandles the printing of SMB data (issue 2 of 2).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/02/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-10105 affects tcpdump versions prior to 4.9.3 and specifically addresses issues in the handling of Server Message Block protocol data during packet analysis. This flaw manifests when tcpdump processes SMB traffic and fails to properly format or display certain data structures, potentially leading to incorrect interpretation of network communications. The issue represents the second of two related problems in SMB data handling within the tcpdump utility, indicating a systemic weakness in how the tool manages SMB protocol parsing and output generation.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper data formatting routines within tcpdump's SMB protocol dissector module. When processing SMB packets, the tool encounters specific data structures that it cannot correctly interpret or display, resulting in malformed output that may obscure important network information or present misleading data to analysts. This improper handling typically occurs when tcpdump attempts to print SMB data fields that contain unexpected or malformed values, causing the utility to either crash or produce incomplete output that fails to accurately represent the underlying network traffic.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability significantly impacts network security monitoring and incident response activities. Security analysts who rely on tcpdump for network traffic analysis may receive corrupted or incomplete SMB data displays that hinder their ability to properly investigate network communications. The flaw particularly affects environments where SMB protocol traffic is prevalent, such as windows file sharing networks, corporate intranets, or any infrastructure utilizing server message block protocols for file access and network communication. During security investigations, this vulnerability could lead to missed detection of malicious activities or incorrect conclusions about network behavior, as critical SMB data elements might be improperly formatted or omitted from the analysis output.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which addresses buffer overflow conditions, and relates to ATT&CK technique T1046 for network service scanning and T1071 for application layer protocols. Organizations using affected tcpdump versions face potential risks in their network monitoring capabilities, as the improper SMB data handling could mask security events or create false negatives in threat detection. The impact extends beyond simple display issues to potentially compromising the integrity of network forensic analysis, making it essential for security teams to update their tcpdump installations to version 4.9.3 or later to ensure accurate packet analysis and maintain effective network monitoring capabilities.
Organizations should prioritize updating their tcpdump installations to version 4.9.3 or higher to address this vulnerability. Security teams should also implement monitoring procedures to identify any systems still running vulnerable versions and establish regular patch management processes to prevent similar issues. Additional mitigations include implementing network segmentation to limit SMB traffic exposure, deploying intrusion detection systems with proper SMB protocol monitoring, and conducting regular security assessments to validate that network monitoring tools are functioning correctly. The fix addresses the core parsing logic for SMB data structures and ensures proper handling of edge cases in SMB protocol implementations, restoring the tool's ability to accurately display network traffic information for security analysis purposes.