WiresharkApplication
CVE-2008-3138
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 · uneditedThe (1) PANA and (2) KISMET dissectors in Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) 0.99.3 through 1.0.0 allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application stop) via unknown vectors.
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 confidenceWireshark versions 0.99.3 through 1.0.0 contain a denial-of-service vulnerability in the PANA and KISMET protocol dissectors. Attackers can exploit unknown vectors in these dissectors to cause the application to stop (crash or hang). This is a client-side vulnerability affecting users who analyze captured network traffic containing these protocols.
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
= 0.9.5= 0.99.2= 0.99.3= 0.99.4= 0.99.5= 0.99.6= 0.99.7= 0.99.8= 1.0= 1.0.0= 1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Wireshark versionRun 'wireshark -v' from command line, or open Wireshark and go to Help > About to view the version numberAffected if The installed version is between 0.99.3 and 1.0.0 inclusive, or matches one of: 0.9.5, 0.99.2, 0.99.3, 0.99.4, 0.99.5, 0.99.6, 0.99.7, 0.99.8, 1.0, or 1.0.0
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Verify PANA dissector is enabledIn Wireshark, go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols, then search for 'PANA' in the listAffected if PANA protocol is enabled (checkbox is checked)
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Verify KISMET dissector is enabledIn Wireshark, go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols, then search for 'KISMET' in the listAffected if KISMET protocol is enabled (checkbox is checked)
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Confirm exposure to untrusted capture filesDetermine whether you open or analyze packet capture files (.pcap, .pcapng) from sources you do not fully trust, or capture traffic on networks with untrusted devicesAffected if You regularly open capture files from untrusted sources or analyze captures that may contain PANA or KISMET protocol traffic
You are affected if your Wireshark version is 0.99.3 through 1.0.0 AND at least one of the PANA or KISMET dissectors is enabled AND you analyze capture files that may contain these protocols.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade Wireshark to a version higher than 1.0.0 (where the vulnerability was patched). If immediate upgrade is not feasible, avoid opening capture files from untrusted sources or disable the PANA and KISMET dissectors.
Fix this in Wireshark
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3138 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sources- secunia.com
- lists.opensuse.org
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- security.gentoo.org
- securitytracker.com
- support.avaya.com
- wiki.rpath.com
- www.debian.org
- www.redhat.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.vupen.com
- www.vupen.com
- www.wireshark.org
- exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com
- oval.cisecurity.org
- oval.cisecurity.org
- www.redhat.com
- nvd.nist.gov
Practitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3138 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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