CVE-2018-9259 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE
In Wireshark 2.4.0 to 2.4.5 and 2.2.0 to 2.2.13, the MP4 dissector could crash. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/file-mp4.c by restricting the box recursion depth.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/26/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-9259 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Wireshark's MP4 dissector component. This issue affected versions ranging from 2.4.0 through 2.4.5 and 2.2.0 through 2.2.13, exposing users to potential system instability when processing specially crafted multimedia files. The MP4 dissector is responsible for parsing and analyzing multimedia data within network captures, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in network security monitoring contexts where Wireshark is extensively deployed.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate recursion depth control within the MP4 file format parser. When Wireshark encounters an MP4 file containing nested boxes with excessive recursion levels, the dissector enters an infinite loop or consumes excessive memory resources, ultimately leading to a complete application crash. This behavior aligns with CWE-674, which describes "Uncontrolled Recursion" as a vulnerability where recursive operations lack proper termination conditions or depth limitations. The flaw specifically manifests in epan/dissectors/file-mp4.c where the box parsing logic fails to enforce reasonable recursion limits, allowing maliciously constructed MP4 files to trigger the exploitable condition.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-9259 extends beyond simple application crashes, as it can severely disrupt network analysis workflows and compromise security monitoring operations. Security professionals who rely on Wireshark for network traffic analysis may find their tools becoming unresponsive or crashing when processing captured traffic containing malicious MP4 content. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations using Wireshark in production environments where continuous monitoring is required, as even a single malicious packet could cause system downtime. The issue also impacts automated network analysis systems and security information and event management platforms that integrate with Wireshark for packet analysis.
The remediation implemented by the Wireshark development team addressed the core problem by introducing explicit recursion depth restrictions within the MP4 dissector. This fix aligns with defensive programming principles and follows best practices for preventing stack overflow conditions in file format parsers. The solution demonstrates adherence to ATT&CK technique T1494, which involves defending against application or system crashes, though the specific mitigation focuses on preventing the initial condition rather than recovery from a crash. Organizations should immediately upgrade to Wireshark versions that include this fix, typically those released after the vulnerability disclosure, to ensure protection against both current and potential future variants of this class of vulnerability. The patch represents a fundamental improvement in the dissector's robustness and demonstrates the importance of input validation and resource limiting in security-critical applications.