Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2016-4085
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 · uneditedStack-based buffer overflow in epan/dissectors/packet-ncp2222.inc in the NCP dissector in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.11 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a long string in a 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 confidenceA stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the NCP (NetWare Core Protocol) dissector (packet-ncp2222.inc) in Wireshark versions 1.12.x before 1.12.11. The overflow occurs when processing a long string within a packet, allowing remote attackers to trigger application crashes (denial of service) or potentially achieve arbitrary code execution.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0
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= 1.12.8= 1.12.9= 1.12.10= 2.0.0= 11.3CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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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Determine Wireshark installation and versionRun 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' from command line to identify installed Wireshark versionAffected if Version is 1.12.0 through 1.12.10, or version 2.0.0, indicating vulnerability to CVE-2016-4085
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Verify NCP dissector module presenceCheck if the NCP dissector files exist in the Wireshark installation directory; look for packet-ncp2222.inc or related NCP dissector filesAffected if NCP dissector module is present and loaded by Wireshark, enabling the vulnerable code path
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Confirm packet capture processing capabilityDetermine if Wireshark has permission and ability to read packet capture files or perform live captures that may contain NCP trafficAffected if User can open pcap files or capture network traffic, allowing malformed NCP packets to trigger the overflow
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Check for exposed attack surfaceIdentify if the system processes packet captures from untrusted sources or performs live capture on untrusted networksAffected if Wireshark is used to analyze captures from unknown sources or capture on shared networks, creating conditions for exploitation
User is affected if Wireshark version is 1.12.0-1.12.10 or 2.0.0 AND the NCP dissector is available AND the system processes packet captures, as the stack-based buffer overflow can be triggered by malformed NCP 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 dataUpdate Wireshark to version 1.12.11 or later. Additionally, avoid opening untrusted packet capture files or probing network traffic from untrusted sources, as the vulnerability can be triggered by malformed packets during live capture or file analysis.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4085 — 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-2016-4085 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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