Vulnerability Note VU#659140

Ethereal ISUP protocol dissector fails to properly decode ISUP packets

Overview

Ethereal fails to properly decode ISDN User Part (ISUP) packets containing an overly long Interworking Function Address (IWFA) value.

I. Description

Ethereal is a network traffic analysis package. It includes the ability to decode packets containing ISUP data. There is a vulnerability in the way the ISUP protocol dissector decodes the IWFA value. By sending an ISUP packet containing an overly long IWFA value, a remote, unauthenticated attacker could execute arbitrary code.

II. Impact

A remote, unauthenticated attacker could execute arbitrary code on the vulnerable system.

III. Solution

Upgrade

Upgrade to version 0.10.3 or later.

Note: Ethereal is considered BETA software at this time.

Disable Dissector

If you are unable to upgrade to version 0.10.3 or later, you can disable the ISUP protocol dissector by performing the following actions in Ethereal:

(for Ethereal versions 0.9.x)

(for Ethereal versions 0.10.x)

However, it is strongly encouraged to upgrade to version 0.10.3 or later.

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Notified	Date Updated
Ethereal	Vulnerable	25-Mar-2004

References

http://security.e-matters.de/advisories/032004.html
http://www.ethereal.com/appnotes/enpa-sa-00013.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/11185/

Credit

Ethereal credits Stefan Esser for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Damon Morda.

Other Information

Date Public:	2004-03-22
Date First Published:	2004-03-25
Date Last Updated:	2004-03-25
CERT Advisory:
CVE-ID(s):	CAN-2004-0176
NVD-ID(s):	CAN-2004-0176
US-CERT Technical Alerts:
Metric:	9.82
Document Revision:	10

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