CVE-2023-0666 – Heap-based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in Wireshark 4..5 and Prior due to Invalid RTPS Packet Length Validation

The security vulnerability CVE-2023-0666 allows an attacker to potentially execute arbitrary code on the targeted system by exploiting a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Wireshark 4..5 and prior versions. Wireshark is an open-source network protocol analyzer that is widely used by security professionals and network administrators for troubleshooting and analysis purposes.

Exploit Details

This vulnerability stems from Wireshark's failure to validate the lengths provided by an attacker-crafted RTPS (Real-Time Publish Subscribe) packet. When Wireshark parses such a packet, it may result in a heap-based buffer overflow, which could potentially lead to code execution in the context of the process running Wireshark.

The following code snippet illustrates how this vulnerability could be triggered by a malicious RTPS packet:

// Pseudo-code to demonstrate the heap buffer overflow vulnerability
void dissect_rtps_packet(tvbuff_t * tvb, packet_info * pinfo, proto_tree * tree) {
  // Read the length from the malicious RTPS packet
  guint16 length = tvb_get_ntohs(tvb, RTPS_PACKET_LENGTH_OFFSET);

  // Allocate memory for packet_data based on the length
  guchar *packet_data = (guchar *) wmem_alloc(wmem_packet_scope(), length);
  
  // No validation of the length happens here
  // Copy data from tvb to packet_data buffer
  tvb_memcpy(tvb, packet_data, RTPS_PACKET_DATA_OFFSET, length);

  // Parse the malicious packet_data and potentially cause heap-based buffer overflow
  parse_packet_data(packet_data, length);
}

Mitigation

Until a patch or an update is released to address this vulnerability, Wireshark users are advised to exercise caution when opening and analyzing RTPS packets from untrusted sources. Users should also consider upgrading to the latest version of Wireshark, which may contain additional security fixes.

Original References

The vulnerability, CVE-2023-0666, has been reported by security researchers based on their analysis of the publicly available Wireshark source code. A detailed description of the vulnerability can be found at the following links:

1. CVE-2023-0666 Vulnerability Details: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-0666
2. Wireshark Source Code Repository: https://github.com/wireshark/wireshark
3. Wireshark RTPS Dissector Code: https://github.com/wireshark/wireshark/blob/master/epan/dissectors/packet-rtps.c

Conclusion

The security vulnerability CVE-2023-0666 exposes Wireshark users to potential code execution attacks through heap-based buffer overflow. Users should remain vigilant while handling RTPS packets from untrusted sources and consider upgrading to the latest version of Wireshark.

Timeline

Published on: 06/07/2023 03:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 06/16/2023 04:15:00 UTC