Executive brief
A vulnerability exists in tcpdump, a widely used tool for monitoring and analyzing network traffic. By sending specially crafted network packets, an attacker could cause the tool to crash or potentially execute unauthorized code. This could disrupt network monitoring operations or allow an attacker to gain a foothold on the system running the analysis software.
Technical details
A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Visual Audio Tool (VAT) parser of tcpdump versions prior to 4.9.0. The flaw is located in the vat_print() function in print-udp.c and is triggered when the tool attempts to parse malformed UDP packets. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this by sending crafted packets to a network segment being monitored by tcpdump in live capture mode, or by providing a malicious pcap file for offline analysis. Successful exploitation can lead to a denial of service (application crash) or potentially arbitrary code execution. The issue was addressed in the upstream release of tcpdump 4.9.0.
Affected products
- tcpdump tcpdump before 4.9.0
Timeline
- 2017-01-26: disclosed: Initial disclosure in Debian bug tracking system
- 2017-01-27: advisory: NVD publication date
- 2017-01-29: patched: Debian security update released