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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2006-4805

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-10-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
epan/dissectors/packet-xot.c in the XOT dissector (dissect_xot_pdu) in Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) 0.9.8 through 0.99.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and crash) via an encoded XOT packet that produces a zero length value when it is decoded.

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

The XOT dissector in Wireshark contains a vulnerability in the dissect_xot_pdu function where processing an encoded XOT packet that decodes to a zero-length value causes excessive memory consumption leading to denial of service. The issue affects versions 0.9.8 through 0.99.3.

MitigationUpgrade to Wireshark version 0.99.4 or later which contains the patched dissector, or disable the XOT dissector if upgrading is not immediately feasible.

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
WiresharkApplication
Affected:= 0.9.8= 0.9.10= 0.10= 0.10.4= 0.10.13= 0.99= 0.99.1= 0.99.2= 0.99.3

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

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

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. Check installed Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark -v' or 'tshark -v' from command line to determine the installed version
    Affected if Version falls within 0.9.8 through 0.99.3 range (inclusive)
  2. Verify XOT protocol support is present
    Check if XOT dissector exists in the Wireshark installation by examining the 'epan/dissectors/packet-xot.c' file or running 'wireshark -G dissectors' to list available dissectors
    Affected if XOT dissector is present in the installation
  3. Confirm XOT dissector is enabled
    Open Wireshark preferences (Edit > Preferences > Protocols > XOT) or check '~/.wireshark/preferences' file for 'xot.enabled' setting set to TRUE
    Affected if XOT dissector is enabled in preferences or automatically loaded when processing captures

If the installed Wireshark version is between 0.9.8 and 0.99.3 inclusive and the XOT dissector is enabled, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to Wireshark version 0.99.4 or later which contains the patched dissector, or disable the XOT dissector if upgrading is not immediately feasible.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2006-4805 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data