# CVE-2015-6242: Memory corruption in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash Wireshark via crafted packets due to improper memory handling in the wmem block allocator.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/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:** 24 Aug 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-6242, GHSA-cxr5-cqh9-cwrf, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-6242

## What is CVE-2015-6242?

CVE-2015-6242 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Oracle Solaris, published on 24 Aug 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The wmem_block_split_free_chunk function in epan/wmem/wmem_allocator_block.c in the wmem block allocator in the memory manager in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.7 does not properly consider a certain case of multiple realloc operations that restore a memory chunk to its original size, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (incorrect free operation and application crash) via a crafted packet.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-6242?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Oracle Solaris, Wireshark Wireshark.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-6242?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-6242 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-6242 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Oracle Solaris

- [CVE-2020-14871](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-14871/): Oracle Solaris and Zettabyte File System (ZFS) Unspecified (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-3010](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3010/): Oracle Solaris Privilege Escalation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-46978](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46978/): Missing authorization in Oracle Solaris (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-3623](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3623/): Other in Solaris Operating System (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-0397](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0397/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-6242 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-6242 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Oracle Solaris, published on 24 Aug 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-6242 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Oracle Solaris. 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-2015-6242/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6242/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-6242
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-6242
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-6242

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6242/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.