NULL pointer dereference in Tcpdump Libpcap

CVE-2024-8006

Remote packet capture support is disabled by default in libpcap. When a user builds libpcap with remote packet capture support enabled, one of the functions that become available is pcap_findalldevs_ex(). One of the function arguments can be a filesystem path, which normally means a directory with input data files. When the specified path cannot be used as a directory, the function receives NULL from opendir(), but does not check the return value and passes the NULL value to readdir(), which causes a NULL pointer derefence.

EPSS: 0.002 (12.5th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.4 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2024-8006?
CVE-2024-8006 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Tcpdump Libpcap, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 4.4/10. Published 2024-08-31.
How severe is CVE-2024-8006?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.4 out of 10.
Is CVE-2024-8006 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.