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wnpa-sec-2009-01 · Multiple problems in Wireshark

Summary

Name: Multiple problems in Wireshark

Docid: wnpa-sec-2009-01

Date: February 6, 2009

Affected versions: 0.99.6 up to and including 1.0.5

Fixed versions: 1.0.6

Details

Description

Wireshark 1.0.6 fixes the following vulnerabilities:

  • On non-Windows systems, Wireshark could crash if the HOME environment variable contained sprintf-style string formatting characters. Discovered by babi. (Bug 3150) Versions affected: 0.99.8 to 1.0.5
  • Wireshark could crash while reading a malformed NetScreen snoop file. Discovered by babi. (Bug 3151) Versions affected: 0.99.7 to 1.0.5
  • Wireshark could crash while reading a Tektronix K12 text capture file. (Bug 1937) Versions affected: 0.99.6 to 1.0.5

Impact

It may be possible to make Wireshark crash by altering the HOME environment variable or by convincing someone to read a malformed packet trace file.

Resolution

Upgrade to Wireshark 1.0.6 or later.

If are running Wireshark {{ end_version }} or earlier (including Ethereal 0.99.0) and cannot upgrade, you can work around each of the problems listed above by doing the following:

  • For each user that will run Wireshark (including root if you're running Wireshark as a privileged user), make sure the HOME environment variable doesnt' contain any "%" characters.
  • Don't open any Tektronix K12 text or NetScreen capture files.