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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2015-8728

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 Mobile Identity parser in (1) epan/dissectors/packet-ansi_a.c in the ANSI A dissector and (2) epan/dissectors/packet-gsm_a_common.c in the GSM A dissector in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.9 and 2.0.x before 2.0.1 improperly uses the tvb_bcd_dig_to_wmem_packet_str function, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (buffer overflow 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 Mobile Identity parser in Wireshark's ANSI A and GSM A dissectors improperly uses the tvb_bcd_dig_to_wmem_packet_str function, leading to a buffer overflow when processing crafted packets. This causes a denial of service via application crash.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 1.12.9 or later, or 2.0.1 or later. Avoid opening untrusted packet capture files 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= 2.0.0

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
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 Wireshark installation
    Run 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' to find the installed version
    Affected if No version output means Wireshark is not installed
  2. Compare installed version to affected range
    Compare the version output to the affected versions: 1.12.0 through 1.12.8 and 2.0.0
    Affected if Version 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, 1.12.8, or 2.0.0
  3. Identify the vulnerable component
    The flaw is in the Mobile Identity parser within the ANSI A and GSM A dissectors. These dissectors are included by default in Wireshark installations
    Affected if The dissectors are always present in affected versions - no additional configuration required

You are affected if you have Wireshark version 1.12.0 through 1.12.8 or version 2.0.0 installed and you open untrusted packet capture files containing ANSI A or GSM A traffic.

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, or 2.0.1 or later. Avoid opening untrusted packet capture files until the upgrade is applied.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2015-8728 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