SMB dissector in Ethereal 0.9.3 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or execute arbitrary code via malformed packets that cause Ethereal to dereference a NULL pointer.
This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from ethereal, from debian organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Originally identified in 2002, this vulnerability predates many modern security frameworks and practices. The vulnerability landscape of that era was characterized by different threat models and less mature defense mechanisms compared to contemporary standards.
2002-06-18T04:00:00.000
2025-04-03T01:03:51.193
Deferred
CVSSv3.1: 7.5 (HIGH)
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
10.0
6.4
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | ethereal | ethereal | ≤ 0.9.3 | Yes |
| Operating System | debian | debian_linux | 2.2 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For ethereal's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.