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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2008-3146

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-09-02
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
Multiple buffer overflows in packet_ncp2222.inc in Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) 0.9.7 through 1.0.2 allow attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted NCP packet that causes an invalid pointer to be used.

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

Multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities exist in the NCP protocol dissector (packet_ncp2222.inc) of Wireshark versions 0.9.7 through 1.0.2. Attackers can exploit these flaws by crafting malicious NCP packets that cause invalid pointer usage, leading to application crashes or potentially arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to a version beyond 1.0.2 (the fixed version is 1.0.3 or later) to resolve the buffer overflow vulnerabilities in the NCP packet dissector.

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:= 0.9.7= 0.9.8= 0.99= 0.99.0= 0.99.1= 0.99.2= 0.99.3= 0.99.4= 0.99.5= 0.99.6= 0.99.6a= 0.99.7

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. Determine Wireshark installation status and version
    Run 'wireshark -v' or 'tshark -v' from command line to retrieve the installed Wireshark version
    Affected if Version is between 0.9.7 and 1.0.2 inclusive, or matches any of these: 0.9.7, 0.9.8, 0.99, 0.99.0, 0.99.1, 0.99.2, 0.99.3, 0.99.4, 0.99.5, 0.99.6, 0.99.6a, 0.99.7
  2. Verify NCP protocol dissector module exists
    Check for the presence of packet_ncp2222.inc or NCP-related dissector files in the Wireshark plugins or epan directory
    Affected if The NCP dissector module (packet_ncp2222) is present in the installation
  3. Confirm NCP traffic is being analyzed
    Inspect any active capture sessions or recent capture files (.pcap, .pcapng) for NCP (NetWare Core Protocol) traffic using 'tshark -r capture.pcap -Y ncp' or reviewing capture file statistics
    Affected if NCP packets are being dissected or the system is processing NCP protocol traffic

You are affected if Wireshark version is between 0.9.7 and 1.0.2 inclusive AND the NCP protocol dissector is loaded while processing NCP traffic, as the buffer overflow in packet_ncp2222.inc can be triggered by malicious NCP packets.

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 Wireshark to a version beyond 1.0.2 (the fixed version is 1.0.3 or later) to resolve the buffer overflow vulnerabilities in the NCP packet dissector.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Wireshark 1.0.3 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current Wireshark version installed on the system using 'wireshark -v' or 'tshark -v'
  2. 2. Download Wireshark 1.0.3 or later from the official Wireshark website (https://www.wireshark.org/download.html)
  3. 3. Uninstall the current version of Wireshark
  4. 4. Install the downloaded Wireshark 1.0.3 or later version
  5. 5. Verify the new version is installed correctly by running 'wireshark -v'
  6. 6. Test that Wireshark launches without errors

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

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
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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-2008-3146 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