CVE-2018-14342 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
In Wireshark 2.6.0 to 2.6.1, 2.4.0 to 2.4.7, and 2.2.0 to 2.2.15, the BGP protocol dissector could go into a large loop. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/packet-bgp.c by validating Path Attribute lengths.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/18/2023
The vulnerability described in CVE-2018-14342 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the Wireshark network protocol analyzer software. This issue affects multiple versions of Wireshark spanning the 2.2.x, 2.4.x, and 2.6.x release lines, creating a widespread impact across the network forensics and security analysis community. The flaw specifically resides within the BGP protocol dissector component that is responsible for parsing and analyzing Border Gateway Protocol traffic. The vulnerability manifests as an infinite loop condition that occurs when processing malformed BGP packets, effectively causing the application to consume excessive CPU resources and potentially crash.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of Path Attribute lengths within the BGP dissector implementation. When Wireshark encounters a BGP packet with malformed or excessively long path attributes, the parsing logic fails to properly validate the attribute length fields before entering processing loops. This allows an attacker to craft specially crafted BGP packets that trigger the dissector to enter an infinite loop, consuming system resources and rendering the network analysis tool ineffective. The flaw is classified as a CWE-835 loop with unbounded iteration, where the loop condition does not properly account for malformed input data. The vulnerability directly impacts the software's ability to process network traffic and can be exploited to perform denial of service attacks against systems running affected versions of Wireshark.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it affects the reliability of network forensics and security analysis operations. Network administrators and security analysts who rely on Wireshark for traffic analysis, incident response, and network troubleshooting could find their investigative capabilities severely compromised when encountering maliciously crafted BGP traffic. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where BGP traffic is monitored, such as internet exchange points, network operations centers, and security monitoring systems. The flaw could be leveraged by attackers to disrupt network analysis operations, potentially masking malicious activities or preventing legitimate security investigations from completing. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with the T1499.004 technique for network disruption, specifically targeting the availability of network analysis tools through resource exhaustion.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2018-14342 involves upgrading to patched versions of Wireshark where the BGP dissector has been updated to properly validate Path Attribute lengths before processing. The fix implemented in epan/dissectors/packet-bgp.c addresses the core issue by adding proper length validation checks that prevent the dissector from entering infinite loops when encountering malformed BGP attributes. Organizations should prioritize updating their Wireshark installations to versions 2.2.16, 2.4.8, or 2.6.2, which contain the necessary patches. Additionally, network administrators should implement monitoring for unusual BGP traffic patterns and consider deploying intrusion detection systems that can detect and block malformed BGP packets. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input validation in protocol dissectors and highlights the need for robust error handling in network analysis tools to prevent resource exhaustion attacks that could compromise the availability of critical security infrastructure.