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Wireshark 1.6.x < 1.6.6 Multiple Vulnerabilities (macOS)

high Nessus Plugin ID 364289

Synopsis

An application installed on the remote macOS / Mac OS X host is affected by multiple vulnerabilities.

Description

The version of Wireshark installed on the remote macOS / Mac OS X host is prior to 1.6.6. It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the wireshark-1.6.6 advisory.

 - The ANSI A dissector could dereference a NULL pointer and crash. It may be possible to make Wireshark crash by injecting a malformed packet onto the wire or by convincing someone to read a malformed packet trace file. (wireshark-bug-6823)

 - The IEEE 802.11 dissector could go into an infinite loop. It may be possible to make Wireshark crash by injecting a malformed packet onto the wire or by convincing someone to read a malformed packet trace file.
 (wireshark-bug-6809)

 - The pcap and pcap-ng file parsers could crash trying to read ERF data. It may be possible to make Wireshark crash convincing someone to read a malformed packet trace file. (wireshark-bug-6804)

 - The MP2T dissector could try to allocate too much memory and crash. It may be possible to make Wireshark crash by injecting a malformed packet onto the wire or by convincing someone to read a malformed packet trace file. (wireshark-bug-6833)

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Upgrade to Wireshark version 1.6.6 or later.

See Also

https://bugs.wireshark.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=6804

https://bugs.wireshark.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=6809

https://bugs.wireshark.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=6823

https://bugs.wireshark.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=6833

https://www.wireshark.org/docs/relnotes/wireshark-1.6.6.html

https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2012-04

https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2012-05

https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2012-06

https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2012-07

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 364289

File Name: macosx_wireshark_1_6_6.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: macosx

Published: 10/8/2026

Updated: 10/8/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:wireshark:wireshark

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/MacOSX/Version, installed_sw/Wireshark

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 3/27/2012

Vulnerability Publication Date: 3/27/2012