WiresharkApplication
CVE-2015-8717
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 dissect_sdp function in epan/dissectors/packet-sdp.c in the SDP dissector in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.9 does not prevent use of a negative media count, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (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 confidenceThe SDP dissector in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.9 contains a vulnerability in the dissect_sdp function where it fails to validate the media count value. When a crafted SDP packet contains a negative media count, the dissector attempts to process an invalid number of media lines, leading to a buffer underflow or out-of-bounds access that causes the application to crash.
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
= 1.12.0= 1.12.1= 1.12.2= 1.12.3= 1.12.4= 1.12.5= 1.12.6= 1.12.7= 1.12.8CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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 Wireshark versionRun `wireshark --version` or `tshark --version` from command line, or open Wireshark and go to Help > About to view version informationAffected if The version displayed is 1.12.0 through 1.12.8 inclusive
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Identify if SDP dissector is activeOpen a capture file or start a live capture, then go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols and search for SDP in the protocol list, or check if SDP packets appear in the packet listAffected if SDP protocol is enabled and visible in capture analysis
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Confirm media count parsing occursFilter for SDP traffic using `sdp` in the display filter, or inspect a pcap file that contains SDP packetsAffected if SDP packets are being dissected, which triggers the vulnerable dissect_sdp function
You are affected if you are running Wireshark version 1.12.0 through 1.12.8 and are analyzing capture files or live traffic that contains SDP packets.
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 to Wireshark 1.12.9 or later where proper validation of the media count has been implemented. Alternatively, avoid opening untrusted SDP capture files or disable the SDP dissector when analyzing traffic from untrusted sources.
Fix this in Wireshark
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8717 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-8717 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
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