Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-9259 is a Wireshark crash issue in the MP4 dissector. Affected Wireshark versions can fail when processing certain MP4 structures. Business impact is mainly analyst workstation disruption, not confirmed data theft or remote compromise.
Executive priority
Treat this as a low-priority hygiene update unless affected Wireshark is used heavily in security operations. It can interrupt investigations but the provided evidence does not indicate compromise, privilege escalation, or active exploitation.
Technical view
Wireshark 2.4.0 through 2.4.5 and 2.2.0 through 2.2.13 are affected. The MP4 dissector could crash because MP4 box recursion depth was not sufficiently restricted. The fix changed epan/dissectors/file-mp4.c to limit recursion depth.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on analyst, engineering, or forensic systems running the affected Wireshark versions and opening MP4-related inputs. Server exposure is not indicated by the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. The credible impact is denial of service against Wireshark during file or traffic analysis.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on product version and parser exposure, not exploit reproduction. The key technical detail is an MP4 box recursion-depth restriction in file-mp4.c. The public records do not provide CVSS, CWE, or confirmed exploitation details.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Wireshark using vendor guidance or supported OS security packages.
- Remove Wireshark 2.4.0-2.4.5 and 2.2.0-2.2.13 from managed systems.
- Limit use of affected Wireshark builds with untrusted MP4-related inputs.
- Apply Debian LTS security updates where Debian packages are used.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installed Wireshark versions on analyst and engineering workstations.
- Confirm affected versions are no longer present after patching.
- Review package-manager history for the referenced Debian security update where applicable.
- Check vulnerability scanner results against CVE-2018-9259 after remediation.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2018-9259 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://code.wireshark.org/review/gitweb?p=wireshark.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=2113179835b37549f245ac7c05ff2b96276893e4CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2018-15.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://bugs.wireshark.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=13777CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- [debian-lts-announce] 20190115 [SECURITY] [DLA 1634-1] wireshark security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.