CVE-2018-14367 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
In Wireshark 2.6.0 to 2.6.1 and 2.4.0 to 2.4.7, the CoAP protocol dissector could crash. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/packet-coap.c by properly checking for a NULL condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/18/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-14367 represents a critical denial of service flaw within the Wireshark network protocol analyzer software. This issue affected versions 2.6.0 through 2.6.1 and 2.4.0 through 2.4.7, where the CoAP protocol dissector exhibited unstable behavior leading to application crashes. The CoAP protocol dissector is responsible for analyzing and interpreting Constrained Application Protocol traffic, which is commonly used in Internet of Things environments and resource-constrained networks. The flaw manifested when the dissector encountered specific malformed CoAP packets that triggered an improper handling of NULL pointer references during packet analysis operations.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-476, which describes NULL pointer dereference conditions that can lead to application instability and crashes. The flaw occurred in the epan/dissectors/packet-coap.c source file where the dissector failed to validate pointer conditions before attempting to access memory locations. When processing certain CoAP packets containing unexpected or malformed data structures, the dissector would attempt to dereference a NULL pointer, causing the entire Wireshark application to terminate abruptly. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in network analysis environments where analysts rely on continuous packet capture and inspection capabilities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application instability, as it could be exploited by malicious actors to disrupt network monitoring operations. Network security professionals and analysts using Wireshark for troubleshooting, forensic analysis, or security assessments would face significant operational challenges when encountering malicious CoAP traffic, as their analysis tools could be rendered unusable. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where IoT devices are monitored, as CoAP is the standard protocol for these constrained network devices. Additionally, the issue could be leveraged in targeted attacks against network infrastructure where Wireshark is deployed for traffic analysis, potentially causing service disruption during critical security operations.
The fix implemented by the Wireshark development team involved adding proper NULL condition checks within the packet-coap.c file to ensure that all pointers are validated before access. This remediation aligns with established security best practices for defensive programming and follows the principle of input validation that is fundamental to preventing memory corruption vulnerabilities. The solution demonstrates proper error handling techniques that should be applied across all network protocol dissectors within Wireshark to prevent similar issues. Organizations should prioritize updating to patched versions of Wireshark to mitigate this vulnerability, as the fix addresses the core issue without introducing functional changes to legitimate packet analysis capabilities. The resolution also serves as a reminder of the importance of robust input validation in network protocol analysis tools, particularly those handling diverse and potentially malicious traffic patterns from various IoT and constrained network environments.