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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2015-8719

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-01-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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_dns_answer function in epan/dissectors/packet-dns.c in the DNS dissector in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.9 mishandles the EDNS0 Client Subnet option, 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 confidence

The DNS dissector in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.9 contains a vulnerability in the dissect_dns_answer function that improperly handles the EDNS0 Client Subnet option. When processing a specially crafted DNS packet with a malformed EDNS0 Client Subnet option, the dissector crashes, causing the entire Wireshark application to terminate.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 1.12.9 or later. As a temporary workaround, avoid opening untrusted capture files or processing live network traffic from untrusted sources until the upgrade is applied.

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:= 1.12.0= 1.12.1= 1.12.2= 1.12.3= 1.12.4= 1.12.5= 1.12.6= 1.12.7= 1.12.8

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if Wireshark is installed
    Run 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' from command line. On Windows, check Program Files for Wireshark installation.
    Affected if Wireshark is not installed on the system
  2. Determine the installed Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark -v' or 'wireshark --version' and note the full version number (for example, 1.12.5)
    Affected if The version displayed is 1.12.0, 1.12.1, 1.12.2, 1.12.3, 1.12.4, 1.12.5, 1.12.6, 1.12.7, or 1.12.8
  3. Verify DNS dissector is available
    Open Wireshark, go to Analyze -> Enabled Protocols, and confirm 'DNS' is enabled (default state is enabled)
    Affected if DNS protocol is enabled and the version is in the affected range
  4. Confirm exposure to untrusted DNS traffic
    Review whether Wireshark is used to analyze capture files from untrusted sources or process live network traffic from untrusted networks
    Affected if The system processes capture files or live traffic that could contain malformed DNS packets with EDNS0 Client Subnet options

The environment is affected if Wireshark versions 1.12.0 through 1.12.8 are installed, the DNS dissector is enabled (default), and the system processes capture files or live traffic from untrusted 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 1.12.9 or later. As a temporary workaround, avoid opening untrusted capture files or processing live network traffic from untrusted sources until the upgrade is applied.

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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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-2015-8719 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