dbcve.org
WiresharkApplication

CVE-2012-5240

MEDIUM · 5.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-10-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
63/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 dissect_tlv function in epan/dissectors/packet-ldp.c in the LDP dissector in Wireshark 1.8.x before 1.8.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a malformed packet.

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 dissect_tlv function in Wireshark's LDP dissector (packet-ldp.c) when processing malformed TLV data in LDP packets. The vulnerability allows remote attackers sending specially crafted packets to crash Wireshark or potentially achieve code execution.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 1.8.3 or later. Until patched, avoid dissecting untrusted LDP traffic or disable the LDP dissector for external captures.

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:= 1.8.0= 1.8.1= 1.8.2

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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 --version' or check your package manager for the installed wireshark package version
    Affected if Version is 1.8.0, 1.8.1, or 1.8.2
  2. Verify LDP dissector is loaded
    Open Wireshark, go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols, and check if LDP (label distribution protocol) is enabled
    Affected if LDP protocol is enabled in the enabled protocols list
  3. Confirm LDP traffic capture capability
    Check if your capture interfaces or saved capture files contain LDP packets (filter: 'ldp')
    Affected if You are actively capturing or analyzing LDP traffic from untrusted sources

You are affected if you run Wireshark version 1.8.0, 1.8.2, or 1.8.2 with the LDP dissector enabled and process LDP packets from untrusted or potentially malicious sources.

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 Wireshark to version 1.8.3 or later. Until patched, avoid dissecting untrusted LDP traffic or disable the LDP dissector for external captures.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,790
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,464.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-5240 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2012-5240 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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