CVE-2010-3844
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in ettercap before version 0.7.5 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a buffer overflow in an sscanf() call when processing temporary settings files. It affects users running vulnerable versions of ettercap, particularly those who process untrusted settings files or network traffic.
💻 Affected Systems
- ettercap
📦 What is this software?
Ettercap by Ettercap Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution with the privileges of the ettercap process, potentially leading to full system compromise.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or denial of service if exploited by a local attacker.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if ettercap is not running or is restricted to non-privileged users.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access or ability to influence temporary settings files. Buffer overflow is straightforward to trigger.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.7.5 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2010-3844
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update ettercap to version 0.7.5 or later using your package manager. 2. For Red Hat/CentOS: 'yum update ettercap'. 3. For Debian/Ubuntu: 'apt-get update && apt-get install ettercap'. 4. Restart any ettercap processes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable ettercap
linuxStop and disable ettercap service to prevent exploitation.
systemctl stop ettercap
systemctl disable ettercap
Run as non-privileged user
linuxRun ettercap with reduced privileges to limit impact.
sudo -u nobody ettercap
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove ettercap from the system entirely.
- Restrict access to ettercap binary and configuration files to trusted users only.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ettercap version: 'ettercap --version' or 'dpkg -l | grep ettercap' or 'rpm -q ettercap'. If version is below 0.7.5, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
ettercap --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify ettercap version is 0.7.5 or higher: 'ettercap --version' should show 0.7.5+.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Segmentation fault or crash logs from ettercap process
- Unusual ettercap process behavior in system logs
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected ettercap network scanning or ARP poisoning activity
SIEM Query:
process_name:"ettercap" AND (event_type:"crash" OR exit_code:139)🔗 References
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2010-3844
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=600130
- https://github.com/Ettercap/ettercap/commit/4ef3ede30181eca9add74305ad26dbcb0c3686a0
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2010-3844
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2010-3844
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=600130
- https://github.com/Ettercap/ettercap/commit/4ef3ede30181eca9add74305ad26dbcb0c3686a0
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2010-3844
