wireshark security update (RHSA-2006-0726)

Original Release Date: November 27, 2006
Last Revised: November 27, 2006
Number: ASA-2006-255
Risk Level: Low
Advisory Version: 1.0
Advisory Status: Interim

1. Overview:

Wireshark is a network packet sniffing and packet analyzing utility.

The Ethereal project recently was renamed to Wireshark. Red Hat updated their packages to use Wireshark going forward on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3 and 4 and deprecate the Ethereal packages.

A number of flaws were reported in the HTTP, WBXML, LDAP and XOT protocol dissectors in Wireshark. If Wireshark were to capture a malformed packet from the network, it could cause Wireshark to crash or stop responding. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the names CVE-2006-4805, CVE-2006-5468, CVE-2006-5469, and CVE-2006-5740 to these issues.

A single NULL byte heap buffer overflow was reported in the MIME Multipart dissector in Wireshark. When reading a malformed MIME Multipart packet, Wireshark could crash or possibly execute arbitrary code. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2006-4574 to this issue.

In order for these vulnerabilities to be taken advantage of, an authenticated user on the local system would have to start Wireshark (tshark). For Avaya system products, only Avaya Service technicians have permissions to run Wireshark (tshark).

More information about these vulnerabilities can be found in the security advisory issued by RedHat Linux:

2. Avaya System Products with wireshark installed:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
Avaya S87XX/S8500/S8300 CM 2.x and 3.x Low See recommended actions below.  This issue will be addressed in accordance with Avaya's Product Security Vulnerability Response Policy
Avaya CCS/SES all Low See recommended actions below.  This issue will be addressed in accordance with Avaya's Product Security Vulnerability Response Policy

Recommended Actions:
For all system products which use vulnerable versions of Wireshark, Avaya recommends that customers restrict local and network access to the server. This restriction should be enforced through the use of physical security, firewalls, ACLs, VPNs, and other generally-accepted networking practices until such time as an update becomes available and can be installed.

3. Avaya Software-Only Products

Avaya software-only products operate on general-purpose operating systems. Occasionally vulnerabilities may be discovered in the underlying operating system or applications that come with the operating system. These vulnerabilities often do not impact the software-only product directly but may threaten the integrity of the underlying platform.

In the case of this advisory Avaya software-only products are not affected by the vulnerability directly but the underlying Linux platform may be. Customers should determine on which Linux operating system the product was installed and then follow that vendors guidance.

4. Software-Only Products:

Product: Affected Version(s): Risk Level: Actions:
CVLAN All None Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the CVLAN application. The CVLAN application does not require the software described in this advisory.
Avaya Integrated Management Suite(IMS) All None Depending on the Operating System provided by customers, the affected package may be installed on the underlying Operating System supporting the IMS application. The IMS application does not require the software described in this advisory.

Recommended Actions:
Avaya recommends that customers follow recommended actions supplied by RedHat Linux or remove the affected package.

5. Additional Information:

Additional information may also be available via the Avaya support website and through your Avaya account representative. Please contact your Avaya product support representative, or dial 1-800-242-2121, with any questions.

6. Disclaimer:

ALL INFORMATION IS BELIEVED TO BE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION AND IS PROVIDED "AS IS". AVAYA INC., ON BEHALF ITSELF AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES (HEREINAFTER COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS "AVAYA"), DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FURTHERMORE, AVAYA MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE STEPS RECOMMENDED WILL ELIMINATE SECURITY OR VIRUS THREATS TO CUSTOMERS' SYSTEMS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AVAYA BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION OR RECOMMENDED ACTIONS PROVIDED HEREIN, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF AVAYA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE DOES NOT AFFECT THE SUPPORT AGREEMENTS IN PLACE FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS. SUPPORT FOR AVAYA PRODUCTS CONTINUES TO BE EXECUTED AS PER EXISTING AGREEMENTS WITH AVAYA.

7. Revision History:

V 1.0 - November 27, 2006 - Initial Statement issued.

Send information regarding any discovered security problems with Avaya products to either the contact noted in the product's documentation or [email protected].

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