Published:
30 May 2002
Protect yourself against future threats.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =========================================================================== AUSCERT External Security Bulletin Redistribution ESB-2002.253 -- Ethereal Security Advisory Potential issues with Ethereal 0.9.3 31 May 2002 =========================================================================== AusCERT Security Bulletin Summary --------------------------------- Product: Ethereal 0.9.3 Vendor: NS Computer Software and Services P/L Impact: Denial of Service Execute Arbitrary Code/Commands Access Required: Remote - --------------------------BEGIN INCLUDED TEXT-------------------- Name: Potential issues with Ethereal 0.9.3 Docid: enpa-sa-00004 Date: May 19, 2002 Severity: High Description: Four potential security issues have been discovered in Ethereal 0.9.3: * The SMB dissector could potentially dereference a NULL pointer in two cases. * The X11 dissector could potentially overflow a buffer while parsing keysyms. * The DNS dissector could go into an infinite loop while reading a malformed packet. * The GIOP dissector could potentially allocate large amounts of memory. No known exploits exist "in the wild" at the present time for any of these issues. Versions prior to 0.9.3 are also subject to these bugs. In order to determine which version of Ethereal you have installed, do one of the following: * Load Ethereal and go to the Help->About Ethereal... menu item. * From the command line run ethereal -v or tethereal -v (the "v" is lowercase). Either action will display the the application version along with the libraries that Ethereal and Tethereal are linked with. If version "0.9.3" or prior is displayed, the application is susceptible. Impact: It may be possible to make Ethereal crash or hang by injecting a purposefully malformed packet onto the wire, or by convincing someone to read a malformed packet trace file. It may be possible to make Ethereal run arbitrary code by exploiting the buffer and pointer problems. Resolution: Upgrade to 0.9.4. If you are running a version prior to 0.9.4, you can disable the dissectors for each of these protocols by selecting Edit->Protocols... and deselecting them from the list. - --------------------------END INCLUDED TEXT-------------------- You have received this e-mail bulletin as a result of your organisation's registration with AusCERT. The mailing list you are subscribed to is maintained within your organisation, so if you do not wish to continue receiving these bulletins you should contact your local IT manager. If you do not know who that is, please send an email to auscert@auscert.org.au and we will forward your request to the appropriate person. This security bulletin is provided as a service to AusCERT's members. As AusCERT did not write the document quoted above, AusCERT has had no control over its content. The decision to use any or all of this information is the responsibility of each user or organisation, and should be done so in accordance with site policies and procedures. NOTE: This is only the original release of the security bulletin. It may not be updated when updates to the original are made. If downloading at a later date, it is recommended that the bulletin is retrieved directly from the original authors to ensure that the information is still current. Contact information for the authors of the original document is included in the Security Bulletin above. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact them directly. Previous advisories and external security bulletins can be retrieved from: http://www.auscert.org.au/Information/advisories.html If you believe that your system has been compromised, contact AusCERT or your representative in FIRST (Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams). Internet Email: auscert@auscert.org.au Facsimile: (07) 3365 7031 Telephone: (07) 3365 4417 (International: +61 7 3365 4417) AusCERT personnel answer during Queensland business hours which are GMT+10:00 (AEST). On call after hours for member emergencies. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3i Charset: noconv Comment: ftp://ftp.auscert.org.au/pub/auscert/AUSCERT_PGP.key iQCVAwUBPPdnmCh9+71yA2DNAQHp4wP/UgsK9HctQlrik/pAJTruE+B957KAX/5Z OBctjMDvYLfzCuH1ZRjEgLcm8bh14wzrrQ/su1Ebv5mlwPiJaTHB4uZY2FW7Ru4Z X8E4pzrKdT3vqXOi0FpVasLeHjkXhwRW6GeouTMbC5bXLFUFjVOrpMKI6Lhr17PO 4FJmY2j9nPU= =VUKh -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----