WiresharkApplication

CVE-2014-6424

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-09-20
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
The dissect_v9_v10_pdu_data function in epan/dissectors/packet-netflow.c in the Netflow dissector in Wireshark 1.10.x before 1.10.10 and 1.12.x before 1.12.1 refers to incorrect offset and start variables, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (uninitialized memory read and application crash) via a crafted 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

The Netflow dissector in Wireshark contains incorrect offset and start variable references in the dissect_v9_v10_pdu_data function (packet-netflow.c). This causes the dissector to read uninitialized memory when processing crafted Netflow packets, leading to application crash (denial of service).

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 1.10.10 or 1.12.1 or later. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted packet capture files or processing Netflow traffic from untrusted sources.

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:= 1.10.0= 1.10.1= 1.10.2= 1.10.3= 1.10.4= 1.10.5= 1.10.6= 1.10.7= 1.10.8= 1.10.9= 1.12.0

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
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 --version' or 'tshark --version' to see the exact version number
    Affected if Version is 1.10.0 through 1.10.9, or exactly 1.12.0
  2. Identify Netflow dissector module
    Look for packet-netflow.c in the Wireshark installation directory or run 'tshark -G dissectors' and search for 'netflow'
    Affected if The Netflow dissector is present in the installation
  3. Determine if Netflow parsing is active
    Check if Wireshark is configured to dissect Netflow traffic or if a pcap file containing Netflow packets will be opened. Inspect any recent capture files or live capture filters for 'netflow' or port 2055/9559/9995/9996 usage
    Affected if Netflow traffic parsing is enabled or Netflow capture files are being processed
  4. Verify dissector is loaded at runtime
    Open Wireshark and go to Help > About Wireshark > Plugins or run 'tshark -v' to confirm the dissector is available
    Affected if The Netflow dissector plugin loads without errors

A user is affected if they have Wireshark version 1.10.0-1.10.9 or 1.12.0 AND actively parse Netflow traffic or open pcap files containing Netflow 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.

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

Upgrade Wireshark to version 1.10.10 or 1.12.1 or later. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted packet capture files or processing Netflow traffic from untrusted sources.

Fix this in Wireshark 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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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-6424 — 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

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-6424 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
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