CVE-2018-5335 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
In Wireshark 2.4.0 to 2.4.3 and 2.2.0 to 2.2.11, the WCP dissector could crash. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/packet-wcp.c by validating the available buffer length.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/20/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-5335 represents a critical buffer overflow condition within Wireshark's WCP dissector component. This flaw affected versions ranging from 2.4.0 through 2.4.3 and 2.2.0 through 2.2.11, creating a potential denial of service scenario that could be exploited by malicious actors. The WCP dissector is responsible for parsing and analyzing Wireless Control Protocol traffic within network captures, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for network security professionals who rely on Wireshark for traffic analysis and forensic investigations.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of buffer lengths within the packet-wcp.c file. Specifically, the dissector failed to properly check the available buffer space before attempting to parse WCP protocol data structures. This lack of bounds checking created an environment where malformed or specially crafted WCP packets could trigger memory corruption conditions leading to application crashes. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper validation of buffer boundaries, and represents a classic example of unchecked buffer access that can lead to unpredictable application behavior. The flaw operates at the protocol dissector level within Wireshark's epan module, demonstrating how low-level parsing functions can create systemic stability issues when input validation is insufficient.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application instability, as it could be leveraged in various attack scenarios. An attacker could craft malicious WCP packets and inject them into network traffic, causing Wireshark to crash when processing these packets during capture analysis. This denial of service condition would prevent network security analysts from performing critical traffic analysis tasks, potentially masking malicious activity or disrupting security monitoring operations. The vulnerability's exploitation does not require elevated privileges and can be executed through passive packet capture manipulation, making it particularly dangerous in environments where network traffic analysis is performed on potentially hostile networks. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1494, which involves the exploitation of software vulnerabilities to cause denial of service conditions.
The remediation implemented by the Wireshark development team addressed the core issue through enhanced buffer length validation within the packet-wcp.c file. This fix ensures that the dissector properly checks available buffer space before attempting to parse WCP protocol elements, preventing the buffer overflow condition that previously led to crashes. The solution follows established security best practices by implementing proper bounds checking and input validation, which are fundamental requirements for robust network protocol parsing. Organizations should immediately upgrade to patched versions of Wireshark to eliminate this vulnerability and maintain the integrity of their network monitoring capabilities. The fix demonstrates the importance of maintaining proper input validation in network protocol analysis tools, as these applications often process untrusted data from potentially malicious sources. Security practitioners should also consider implementing additional monitoring for abnormal Wireshark behavior and maintain updated network analysis tools to prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in other protocol dissectors.