CVE-2023-1161 is a buffer overflow vulnerability classified under CWE-120 affecting the Wireshark network protocol analyzer maintained by the Wireshark Foundation. The flaw exists in the ISO 15765 and ISO 10681 protocol dissectors within Wireshark versions 3.6.0 through 3.6.11 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.3. Specifically, the vulnerability arises due to a buffer copy operation that does not verify the size of the input data, leading to a classic buffer overflow condition. This can be triggered by processing specially crafted network packets or capture files containing malformed ISO 15765 or ISO 10681 protocol data. The consequence is a denial of service (DoS) condition where Wireshark crashes, potentially disrupting network analysis or forensic investigations. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.3 (medium severity), reflecting network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:R) to open malicious files or receive malicious packets. The impact affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability to a limited degree, primarily through application crashes and possible information leakage during the crash. No public exploits have been reported, and no patches were linked in the provided data, but users are advised to upgrade to versions beyond 3.6.11 and 4.0.3 where the issue is resolved. This vulnerability is significant for organizations relying on Wireshark for network monitoring, incident response, or forensic analysis, as attackers could disrupt these processes by sending crafted packets or files.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-1161 is the potential denial of service on Wireshark instances used for network traffic analysis, monitoring, and forensic investigations. This could delay detection and response to network incidents, affecting cybersecurity operations. While the vulnerability does not enable remote code execution or full system compromise, repeated crashes could degrade operational efficiency and cause temporary loss of visibility into network traffic. Organizations in sectors such as telecommunications, critical infrastructure, financial services, and government agencies that rely heavily on Wireshark for packet analysis may experience operational disruptions. Additionally, if attackers craft malicious capture files distributed internally or externally, unsuspecting analysts opening these files could trigger crashes. The confidentiality and integrity impacts are limited but not negligible, as crashes might expose partial memory contents or cause loss of captured data. Overall, the threat is moderate but warrants timely remediation to maintain robust network security posture.

1. Upgrade Wireshark to versions later than 3.6.11 or 4.0.3 where this vulnerability is patched. 2. Avoid opening capture files from untrusted or unknown sources to reduce risk of triggering the overflow. 3. Implement strict network segmentation and filtering to limit exposure to malicious ISO 15765 and ISO 10681 protocol traffic, especially from external or untrusted networks. 4. Use sandboxing or isolated environments for analyzing suspicious capture files to contain potential crashes. 5. Monitor Wireshark application logs and system stability to detect abnormal crashes that may indicate exploitation attempts. 6. Educate network analysts and incident responders about the risk and safe handling of capture files. 7. Employ endpoint protection solutions that can detect anomalous behavior or crashes in Wireshark processes. 8. Regularly review and update incident response procedures to handle potential denial of service scenarios affecting network analysis tools.