Description

Tektronix K12xx file parser crash in 4.6.0 to 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.18 allows denial of service

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "3.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-19T23:16:19.430Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-19T23:16:19.430Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A denial of service vulnerability exists within the Tektronix K12xx file parser across multiple software versions. The flaw allows an attacker to cause application crashes by supplying a maliciously crafted capture file.\nThe vulnerability directly impacts the stability and availability of systems utilizing the vulnerable parser to process telemetry or protocol data files. Successful exploitation results in abnormal termination of the parsing process, leading to a localized denial of service condition.\nAffected products include specific iterations of the parsing engine in versions 4.6.0 through 4.6.7 and versions 4.4.0 through 4.4.18.\nThe risk implication is centered on operational disruption, potentially halting analysis workflows or automated monitoring systems that rely on processing these specific file formats.\nAttacker capabilities require the ability to deliver or induce an operator to open a specially crafted Tektronix K12xx file within the vulnerable application context. No remote network exploitation vectors are inherently implied beyond the ingestion of untrusted input files.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in the file parsing component responsible for decoding Tektronix K12xx formatted trace and capture files.\nThe root cause stems from improper input validation and insufficient bounds checking when the parser reads structural headers, length fields, or packet payload parameters defined within the file format.\nWhen a specially crafted file containing anomalous or malformed metadata is processed, it triggers memory corruption conditions, null pointer dereferences, or integer overflows, forcing the host application to crash.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, an attacker constructs a malicious Tektronix K12xx file containing deliberately manipulated structural data designed to violate the internal assumptions of the parser state machine. Second, the target application attempts to ingest and parse the file. Third, during the decoding routine, the parser encounters the unexpected values without adequate error handling or sanitization. Fourth, the resulting exception or memory fault causes an unhandled crash, terminating the process and denying service to users or dependent workflows.\nAffected software versions include 4.6.0 to 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.18 of the Tektronix K12xx file parser implementation.\nAuthentication and privilege requirements depend on the execution context of the application consuming the file, but exploitation typically requires local file access or user interaction to load the malicious payload into the parser."
}