CVE-2017-5205

Description

Multiple out of bounds read and integer overflow vulnerabilities were found in tcpdump affecting the decoding of various protocols. An attacker could create a crafted pcap file or send specially crafted packets to the network segment where tcpdump is running in live capture mode (without -w) which could cause it to display incorrect data, crash or enter an infinite loop.

Statement

Red Hat Product Security has rated these issues as having Moderate security impact. These issues may be fixed in a future minor release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/.

Mitigation

When invoked with the "-w" option, to write raw packets to a pcap file (for forensic purposes or offline examination), tcpdump does not use the protocol decoding subsystem and is not affected by these flaws. Red Hat Product Security recommends that any unattended uses of tcpdump use this option to ensure uninterrupted packet capture.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score6.59.8N/A
Attack VectorNetworkNetworkN/A
Attack ComplexityLowLowN/A
Privileges RequiredNoneNoneN/A
User InteractionRequiredNoneN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityNoneHighN/A
Integrity ImpactNoneHighN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Integrity,Availability,Confidentiality

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Read Memory; Modify Memory

If the incorrect calculation is used in the context of memory allocation, then the software may create a buffer that is smaller or larger than expected. If the allocated buffer is smaller than expected, this could lead to an out-of-bounds read or write (CWE-119), possibly causing a crash, allowing arbitrary code execution, or exposing sensitive data.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank the Tcpdump project for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

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