Software Engineering Institute

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) protocol enables network and system administrators to remotely monitor and configure devices on the network (devices such as switches and routers). Ethereal includes the ability to decode packets containing SNMP data. There is a vulnerability in the way the SNMP dissector decodes SNMP packets containing a malformed or missing community string. By sending a specially crafted SNMP packet or convincing a victim to read a malformed packet trace file, a remote, unauthenticated attacker could cause Ethereal to crash or potentially execute code of the attacker's choice.

A remote, unauthenticated attacker could cause Ethereal to crash or potentially execute code of the attacker's choice.

Upgrade

Upgrade to version 0.10.5 or later.

Note: Ethereal is considered BETA software at this time.

Disable SNMP protocl dissector

If you are unable to upgrade to version 0.10.5 or later, you can disable the SNMP protocol dissector by performing the following actions in Ethereal:

1) Select Analyze->Enabled Protocols
2) Disable the SNMP protocol dissector from the list by unchecking its "Status" checkbox

However, it is strongly encouraged to upgrade to version 0.10.5 or later.