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EtherealApplication · Ethereal Group

CVE-2004-0507

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2004-08-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Buffer overflow in the MMSE dissector for Ethereal 0.10.1 to 0.10.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Buffer overflow in the MMSE (Multimedia Messaging Service Extension) dissector in Ethereal versions 0.10.1 through 0.10.3 allows remote attackers to cause denial of service and potentially execute arbitrary code via malformed MMSE protocol packets.

MitigationUpgrade Ethereal to version 0.10.4 or later where the vulnerability was patched, or migrate to the current Wireshark release which contains the fix.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
EtherealApplication
Affected:= 0.10.1= 0.10.2= 0.10.3
PropackApplication
Affected:= 2.4= 3.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed Ethereal or Wireshark version
    Run 'ethereal -v' or 'wireshark -v' from the command line to display the version number
    Affected if The version displayed is 0.10.1, 0.10.2, or 0.10.3 exactly
  2. Check if running on SGI Propack with bundled Ethereal
    Verify the operating system version with 'uname -a' or check '/etc/redhat-release' if available; inspect the bundled Ethereal version in /usr/sbin/ethereal or similar path if shipped with the OS
    Affected if System is SGI Propack 2.4 or 3.0 with the packaged Ethereal version matching 0.10.1 through 0.10.3
  3. Confirm the MMSE dissector is present
    Launch Ethereal/Wireshark, go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols, or run 'ethereal -G' to dump the dissector list and search for 'mmse' in the output
    Affected if The MMSE dissector appears in the list of enabled protocols and is not disabled
  4. Determine if MMSE traffic capture is active
    Review any active capture files or live captures for traffic on typical MMSC ports (typically UDP/80 or custom ports) or inspect the captured packet list for MMSE-based protocol data
    Affected if The environment is capturing or parsing MMSE-based multimedia messaging traffic which triggers the vulnerable dissector code

A system is affected if Ethereal version 0.10.1, 0.10.2, or 0.10.3 (including SGI Propack bundled versions) is installed AND the MMSE dissector is enabled or processing MMSE protocol traffic.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Ethereal to version 0.10.4 or later where the vulnerability was patched, or migrate to the current Wireshark release which contains the fix.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Wireshark 0.10.4 or later (Ethereal was renamed to Wireshark; any version after 0.10.3 contains the fix)

  1. 1. Discontinue use of Ethereal and migrate to Wireshark, the successor project
  2. 2. Download Wireshark from the official website (wireshark.org) or your system's package manager
  3. 3. Install Wireshark version 0.10.4 or later, which contains the fix for the MMSE dissector buffer overflow
  4. 4. Verify the installation by checking Help > About Wireshark to confirm the version
  5. 5. If migration is not immediately possible, disable the MMSE dissector in Ethereal by going to Edit > Preferences > Protocols > MMSE and unabling it
Caveat Wireshark has some UI and feature differences from Ethereal; however, the core packet capture and dissection functionality is preserved

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Ethereal Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0507 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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