CVE-2023-1994 is a vulnerability identified in the Wireshark network protocol analyzer, specifically within its GQUIC protocol dissector. The flaw is a null pointer dereference (CWE-476) that occurs when Wireshark processes certain crafted packets or capture files, leading to a crash of the application. This vulnerability affects Wireshark versions from 3.6.0 up to but not including 3.6.13, and versions 4.0.0 up to but not including 4.0.5. The root cause is improper handling of GQUIC protocol data, where the dissector fails to properly check for null pointers before dereferencing them. When exploited, this results in a denial of service condition by crashing the Wireshark process. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 6.3 (medium severity), reflecting that the attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), but does require user interaction (UI:R) such as opening a malicious capture file or receiving malicious packets during live capture. The impact affects confidentiality, integrity, and availability to a limited extent, primarily availability due to application crashes. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication, and no official patches linked in the provided data, though fixed versions are available beyond the affected ranges. This vulnerability is significant for users who rely on Wireshark for network traffic analysis, as an attacker could disrupt their monitoring capabilities by causing crashes.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-1994 is operational disruption. Wireshark is widely used by network administrators, security analysts, and incident responders to monitor and analyze network traffic. A denial of service caused by crafted packets or malicious capture files could interrupt these activities, delaying threat detection and response. This is particularly critical for sectors with stringent security monitoring requirements such as finance, energy, telecommunications, and government agencies. While the vulnerability does not directly lead to data breaches or remote code execution, the loss of availability of a key analysis tool can degrade overall security posture. Additionally, organizations that share capture files for collaborative analysis could inadvertently propagate malicious files triggering the crash. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the ease of triggering the crash via crafted packets or files means attackers could weaponize this vulnerability in targeted attacks or during reconnaissance phases. European entities with mature cybersecurity operations and those involved in critical infrastructure protection are more likely to be impacted due to their reliance on Wireshark for network visibility.

1. Upgrade Wireshark to versions 3.6.13 or later, or 4.0.5 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. 2. Avoid opening capture files from untrusted or unknown sources to reduce risk of triggering the crash. 3. Implement strict network segmentation and filtering to limit exposure to potentially malicious GQUIC traffic, especially on monitoring networks. 4. Use sandboxing or isolated environments for analyzing untrusted capture files to prevent disruption of critical systems. 5. Educate security teams about the risks of crafted capture files and encourage verification of file provenance before analysis. 6. Monitor Wireshark usage logs and crash reports to detect potential exploitation attempts. 7. Consider alternative or complementary network analysis tools during patching windows to maintain operational continuity. 8. Collaborate with vendors and community to obtain timely patches and updates. 9. Employ network intrusion detection systems to flag suspicious GQUIC traffic patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts.