Description
wb2osz/direwolf (Dire Wolf) versions up to and including 1.8.1, prior to commit 694c954, contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the function kiss_rec_byte() located in src/kiss_frame.c. When processing crafted KISS frames that reach the maximum allowed frame length (MAX_KISS_LEN), the function appends a terminating FEND byte without reserving sufficient space in the stack buffer. This results in an out-of-bounds write followed by an out-of-bounds read during the subsequent call to kiss_unwrap(), leading to stack memory corruption or application crashes. This vulnerability may allow remote unauthenticated attackers to trigger a denial-of-service condition.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| wb2osz | Dire Wolf | ≤ 1.8.1 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | direwolf | 1.8.1+dfsg-2 | — |
| Debian 13 | direwolf | 1.7+dfsg-2+deb13u1 | — |
| Debian 12 | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | direwolf | No fix yet | — |
References
- https://github.com/marlinkcyber/advisories/blob/main/advisories/MCSAID-2025-010-direwolf-stack-buffer-overflow-kiss-frame.md technical-description exploit
- https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/issues/617 issue-tracking
- https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf/commit/694c954 patch
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/wb2osz-direwolf-stack-based-buffer-overflow-dos third-party-advisory