# CVE-2009-3242: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash Wireshark via malformed GSM packets due to an uninitialized dissector handle, requiring an upgrade to mitigate.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Sep 2009
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2009-3242, GHSA-44gq-3r46-fprm

## What is CVE-2009-3242?

CVE-2009-3242 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wireshark Wireshark, published on 18 Sep 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Unspecified vulnerability in packet.c in the GSM A RR dissector in Wireshark 1.2.0 and 1.2.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via unknown vectors related to "an uninitialized dissector handle," which triggers an assertion failure.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-3242?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wireshark Wireshark.

## How do I fix CVE-2009-3242?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2009-3242 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-3242 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Wireshark 1.2.1 - GSM A RR Dissector packet.c Remote Denial of Service (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Wireshark Wireshark

- [CVE-2011-0444](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0444/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-2994](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2994/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-2995](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2995/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-1266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1266/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-1210](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1210/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2009-3242 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2009-3242 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wireshark Wireshark, published on 18 Sep 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2009-3242 exists.

Affected product: Wireshark Wireshark. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3242/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3242/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2009-3242
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-3242
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2009-3242

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3242/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.