CVE-2003-0356

Multiple off-by-one vulnerabilities in Ethereal 0.9.11 and earlier allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via the (1) AIM, (2) GIOP Gryphon, (3) OSPF, (4) PPTP, (5) Quake, (6) Quake2, (7) Quake3, (8) Rsync, (9) SMB, (10) SMPP, and (11) TSP dissectors, which do not properly use the tvb_get_nstringz and tvb_get_nstringz0 functions.

Published: 2003-06-09 Last update: 2026-04-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2003-0356 is rated High Risk (67.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 28.41%, 96th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2003-0356

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-03-30 40.08% 28.41% -11.66%
2 2025-03-29 28.41% 40.08% +11.66%
3 2025-03-26 28.41%

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2003-0356

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 5.9 [email protected]
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2003-0356

OS Trackers for CVE-2003-0356

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2003-0356

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2003-0356

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ethereal ethereal < 0.9.12 cpe:2.3:a:ethereal:ethereal:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2003-0356

cvelogic Threat Intelligence