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Wireshark EUVDEUVD-2026-63140

| CVE-2026-76883 MEDIUM
Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122)
2026-08-19 GitLab GHSA-qfrc-4462-rghv
5.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Craft malformed DCT2000 capture file
  2. Delivery
    Deliver file to analyst via social engineering
  3. Exploit
    Analyst opens file in unpatched Wireshark
  4. Execution
    Heap-based buffer overflow triggered in DCT2000 parser
  5. Impact
    Wireshark process crashes

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Heap buffer bounds checking
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

The attacker must deliver a specially crafted Catapult DCT2000 capture file to the victim's local filesystem, and the victim must actively open that file in Wireshark (UI:R). AV:L confirms no direct network-based exploitation path - the file must be present on the local system. AC:H indicates that specific file content conditions must be precisely satisfied to trigger the heap overflow reliably, meaning casual or automated delivery of random malformed files is unlikely to succeed. The attack is limited to those Wireshark installations running versions 4.4.0-4.4.17 or 4.6.0-4.6.7. Authentication requirements are not applicable to the local analyst interaction model; the CVSS PR:N reflects that the attacker needs no special privileges on the victim system to stage the malicious file.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 base score of 4.7 (Medium) accurately reflects the constrained real-world risk profile. AV:L confirms that the attacker cannot reach the target directly over a network - the malicious file must be placed on the analyst's local filesystem and then opened (UI:R). Impact is strictly availability (A:H, C:N, I:N), meaning the worst outcome is a Wireshark crash with no data disclosure or system compromise. AC:H reinforces that triggering the crash reliably requires crafted file content. No EPSS data was provided in the input, so probabilistic exploitation rates cannot be stated. The vulnerability is not in the CISA KEV catalog and no public exploit code has been identified, both of which further reduce operational urgency. The primary risk is disruption to network analysts or incident responders who are tricked or otherwise exposed to a malformed DCT2000 capture file. This is a real flaw worth patching on schedule, but it does not warrant emergency response.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker crafts a malformed Catapult DCT2000 capture file containing a byte sequence designed to trigger the heap buffer overflow in Wireshark's DCT2000 parser. The file is delivered to a target analyst via email attachment, file share, or a simulated test results bundle. When the analyst opens the file in an unpatched Wireshark instance, the parser overflows the heap buffer, causing an application crash that disrupts the analyst's active capture or analysis session. No public exploit code exists, and the AC:H metric indicates reliable trigger conditions are non-trivial to construct.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 19, 2026

Denial of service in Wireshark's Catapult DCT2000 file parser crashes the application across versions 4.6.0-4.6.7 and 4.4.0-4.4.17 when a malformed capture file is opened. The root cause is a heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122) that exhausts availability without yielding code execution, as confirmed by the CVSS A:H, C:N, I:N profile. No public exploit code exists and this vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, placing it in the moderate-priority tier despite the memory safety class of the flaw.

RemediationAI

Upgrade to Wireshark 4.4.18 or 4.6.8, which address this vulnerability per the vendor advisory at https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2026-74.html and the GitLab issue tracker at https://gitlab.com/wireshark/wireshark/-/work_items/21427. Patch availability is confirmed by the vendor; no exact patch version beyond those fix releases needs to be inferred. As a compensating control where immediate upgrade is not feasible, analysts should avoid opening untrusted or externally supplied DCT2000 capture files in unpatched Wireshark versions. Disabling the Catapult DCT2000 file format handler via Wireshark's preferences may also prevent triggering the vulnerable code path, though this removes the ability to read that file format. The trade-off is loss of DCT2000 analysis capability versus exposure to the crash.

Affected VersionsENISA

Wireshark 4.4.0 <4.4.18
Wireshark 4.6.0 <4.6.8

Affected Packages

euvd wireshark fix: 4.4.18, 4.6.8

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Wireshark (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:wireshark_foundation:wireshark) is the dominant open-source packet capture and protocol analysis tool. The Catapult DCT2000 dissector handles proprietary capture files produced by Spirent/Catapult DCT2000 telecommunications test equipment. CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) indicates that during parsing of a malformed DCT2000 file, the dissector writes past the end of a heap-allocated buffer. In this case the overflow does not yield reliable code execution - the process terminates abnormally, producing only a denial-of-service outcome. The CVSS AC:H metric reflects that exploiting this overflow to produce a deterministic crash likely requires specific byte-sequence alignment within the malformed file, consistent with typical heap overflow triggering conditions in file parsers.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (GitLab) PRIMARY MEDIUM
NVD 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 4.7 MEDIUM

Local file open required (AV:L), specific malformed content needed (AC:H), no privileges for attacker (PR:N), analyst must open file (UI:R), crash only (A:H, C:N, I:N).

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE 4.7 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Red Hat 4.7 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (GitLab).

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

3
CVSS changed
Aug 31, 2026 - 19:22 NVD
4.7 (MEDIUM) 5.5 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
Aug 19, 2026 - 23:04 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 19, 2026 - 22:35 cve.org
MEDIUM 4.7

DescriptionNVD

Catapult DCT2000 file parser crash in 4.6.0 to 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.18 allows denial of service

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 99% exploitable
Prevalence
High
widely used network analysis tool among security and network professionals
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

28
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

A heap overflow occurs when a program writes data beyond the bounds of a buffer allocated in the heap memory region.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

CVE-2014-2299 CRITICAL POC
9.3 Mar 11

Buffer overflow in the mpeg_read function in wiretap/mpeg.c in the MPEG parser in Wireshark 1.8.x before 1.8.13 and 1.10

CVE-2013-4074 MEDIUM POC
5.0 Jun 09

The dissect_capwap_data function in epan/dissectors/packet-capwap.c in the CAPWAP dissector in Wireshark 1.6.x before 1.

CVE-2018-6836 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Feb 08

The netmonrec_comment_destroy function in wiretap/netmon.c in Wireshark through 2.4.4 performs a free operation on an un

CVE-2014-4174 CRITICAL POC
9.3 Jun 18

wiretap/libpcap.c in the libpcap file parser in Wireshark 1.10.x before 1.10.4 allows remote attackers to execute arbitr

CVE-2017-9353 HIGH POC
7.5 Jun 02

In Wireshark 2.2.0 to 2.2.6, the IPv6 dissector could crash. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remot

CVE-2017-17085 HIGH POC
7.5 Dec 01

In Wireshark 2.4.0 to 2.4.2 and 2.2.0 to 2.2.10, the CIP Safety dissector could crash. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), t

CVE-2017-9347 HIGH POC
7.5 Jun 02

In Wireshark 2.2.0 to 2.2.6, the ROS dissector could crash with a NULL pointer dereference. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.

CVE-2025-5601 HIGH POC
7.8 Jun 04

A denial of service vulnerability in Column handling crashes in Wireshark 4.4.0 to 4.4.6 and 4.2.0 to 4.2.12 (CVSS 7.8)

CVE-2023-4513 HIGH POC
7.5 Aug 24

BT SDP dissector memory leak in Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.7 and 3.6.0 to 3.6.15 allows denial of service via packet injecti

CVE-2023-4512 HIGH POC
7.5 Aug 24

CBOR dissector crash in Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.6 allows denial of service via packet injection or crafted capture file.

CVE-2023-2879 HIGH POC
7.5 May 26

GDSDB infinite loop in Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.5 and 3.6.0 to 3.6.13 allows denial of service via packet injection or cra

CVE-2023-1992 HIGH POC
7.5 Apr 12

RPCoRDMA dissector crash in Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.4 and 3.6.0 to 3.6.12 allows denial of service via packet injection o

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 12 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP7 Affected

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