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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2015-8742

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_CPMSetBindings function in epan/dissectors/packet-mswsp.c in the MS-WSP dissector in Wireshark 2.0.x before 2.0.1 does not validate the column size, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption or 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 MS-WSP dissector in Wireshark contains a vulnerability in the dissect_CPMSetBindings function where column size values from incoming packets are not validated before use. This allows malformed packets to trigger excessive memory allocation or application crashes.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 2.0.1 or later. Avoid opening untrusted packet capture files from unknown 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 if Wireshark is installed
    Run 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' to see if Wireshark is present on the system
    Affected if No output means Wireshark is not installed and the system is not affected
  2. Identify the installed Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark --version' and note the version number displayed (e.g., Wireshark 2.0.0)
    Affected if The version shown is exactly 2.0.0 - other versions like 2.0.1, 2.0.2, or 1.12.x are NOT affected
  3. Verify the MS-WSP dissector is available
    Open Wireshark and go to Help > About Wireshark > Plugins, or check if wspdissector.dll (Windows) or wsp.so (Linux) exists in the plugins folder
    Affected if The MS-WSP dissector is present - this is the vulnerable component that processes malformed packets
  4. Confirm the dissect_CPMSetBindings function exists
    In the Wireshark installation directory, locate the MS-WSP dissector source code or plugin file and verify the dissect_CPMSetBindings function is included
    Affected if The function exists in the installed dissector - this is where the missing validation occurs

A system is affected only if Wireshark version 2.0.0 is installed and the MS-WSP dissector with the vulnerable dissect_CPMSetBindings function is present; other versions or missing the dissector means not affected.

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 2.0.1 or later. Avoid opening untrusted packet capture files from unknown sources.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2015-8742 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