# CVE-2024-2397: infinite loop in the PPP printer of tcpdump

> An attacker can cause a denial of service via an infinite loop in tcpdump's PPP printer by providing a crafted pcap file.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Apr 2024
- **Updated:** 13 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j3vc-4chv-32mw, MGASA-2024-0177, openSUSE-SU-2024:14305-1

## What is CVE-2024-2397?

CVE-2024-2397 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in The Tcpdump Group tcpdump, published on 12 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Due to a bug in packet data buffers management, the PPP printer in tcpdump can enter an infinite loop when reading a crafted DLT_PPP_SERIAL .pcap savefile.  This problem does not affect any tcpdump release, but it affected the git master branch from 2023-06-05 to 2024-03-21.

Weakness: CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-2397?


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `tcpdump` | openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 4.99.5-1.1 |

## How do I fix CVE-2024-2397?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-2397 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-2397 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-2397 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-2397 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in The Tcpdump Group tcpdump, published on 12 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-2397 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: The Tcpdump Group tcpdump. 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-2024-2397/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-2397/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-2397
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-2397
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-2397

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-2397/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.