dbcve.org
WiresharkApplication

CVE-2015-8738

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 s7comm_decode_ud_cpu_szl_subfunc function in epan/dissectors/packet-s7comm_szl_ids.c in the S7COMM dissector in Wireshark 2.0.x before 2.0.1 does not validate the list count in an SZL response, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (divide-by-zero error 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 S7COMM dissector in Wireshark 2.0.x before 2.0.1 fails to validate the list count field in SZL (System ZL) response packets. When processing a crafted packet with a zero or invalid list count, the dissector performs a division operation without checking for zero, causing a divide-by-zero error that crashes Wireshark.

MitigationUpgrade to Wireshark 2.0.1 or later, or temporarily disable the S7COMM dissector when analyzing 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:= 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 installed Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark --version' or check About Wireshark in the application menu
    Affected if Version is exactly 2.0.0 (other 2.0.x versions like 2.0.1 and later are not affected)
  2. Confirm the S7COMM dissector is available
    Look for S7COMM in the dissector list or try opening a PCAP file containing S7comm/S7 communication traffic
    Affected if S7COMM dissector is loaded and you are analyzing S7 communication traffic
  3. Identify source of S7 communication traffic
    Review PCAP files or live captures for S7COMM protocol traffic from external or untrusted sources
    Affected if You are processing SZL response packets from untrusted or unknown sources that could contain crafted malformed list count values

You are affected only if you have Wireshark version 2.0.0 exactly AND are using the S7COMM dissector to analyze traffic from untrusted sources containing SZL response packets with zero or invalid list count values.

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 to Wireshark 2.0.1 or later, or temporarily disable the S7COMM dissector when analyzing traffic from untrusted sources.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8738 — 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-2015-8738 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