CVE-2004-0176: Ethereal dissector buffer overflows allow remote code execution

Automated analysis

Generated by VULONE's analysis model from the NVD record, CISA KEV and EPSS data on 19 September 2026. Confidence: medium.

high priorityAlthough the CVSS v2 score is medium, the flaw allows remote code execution without authentication and has a very high EPSS percentile, making it a serious risk for exposed or unpatched Ethereal deployments.

What it is

Ethereal versions 0.8.13 through 0.10.2 contain multiple buffer overflows in eight protocol dissectors: NetFlow, IGAP, EIGRP, PGM, IrDA, BGP, ISUP, and TCAP. A remote attacker can crash the analyzer or potentially execute arbitrary code by delivering crafted packets that trigger the affected dissector.

Impact

An attacker can cause a denial of service against the Ethereal process and may achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the user running Ethereal. Because Ethereal is often run with elevated privileges for packet capture, successful exploitation could yield those privileges.

Attack surface

The flaw is reached over the network via malformed packets processed by the listed dissectors, with no authentication required per the CVSS vector AV:N/AC:L/Au:N. User interaction is required only insofar as a victim must capture or open traffic containing the crafted packets.

Exploitation

CVE-2004-0176 is not listed in CISA KEV and no ransomware associations are documented. EPSS estimates a 30-day exploitation probability of 0.67092 (99.266th percentile), indicating high predicted activity, but the record contains no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation reports.

What to do

• Upgrade Ethereal to a version later than 0.10.2, or apply the vendor patches referenced in the Debian, Red Hat, Gentoo, and Mandriva advisories.
• If immediate upgrade is not possible, disable or avoid the affected dissectors (NetFlow, IGAP, EIGRP, PGM, IrDA, BGP, ISUP, TCAP) where the tool permits.
• Restrict capture of untrusted network traffic to trusted segments and avoid running Ethereal with unnecessary privileges.
• Monitor vendor advisories for updated packages and apply distribution-specific security updates promptly.

Detection

• Monitor for crashes or abnormal termination of the Ethereal process, especially when processing traffic on the affected protocols.
• Inspect packet captures for malformed or unusually large NetFlow, IGAP, EIGRP, PGM, IrDA, BGP, ISUP, or TCAP packets.
• Correlate Ethereal process failures with network traffic from untrusted sources to identify potential exploitation attempts.
• Use host-based monitoring to detect unexpected child processes or code execution originating from the Ethereal process.

This assessment is produced automatically and is not human-reviewed. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting on it.