CVE-2023-4512 is a vulnerability identified in the Wireshark network protocol analyzer, specifically affecting versions 4.0.0 through 4.0.6. The root cause is an uncontrolled recursion issue within the CBOR (Concise Binary Object Representation) dissector component. When Wireshark processes a specially crafted capture file or receives maliciously crafted packets, the recursive parsing logic can lead to excessive stack consumption, causing the application to crash. This results in a denial of service (DoS) condition, where Wireshark becomes unresponsive or terminates unexpectedly. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion), indicating that the recursion depth is not properly limited or checked, leading to resource exhaustion. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3 (medium severity), reflecting that the attack vector is local (AV:L), requires no privileges (PR:N), but does require user interaction (UI:R) to open a malicious capture file or capture malicious packets. The impact includes limited confidentiality and integrity loss due to potential disruption of network analysis activities, and availability impact due to application crashes. No patches were linked at the time of reporting, and no known exploits in the wild have been documented. The vulnerability highlights the risks of processing untrusted network data in security tools and the importance of robust input validation and resource management in protocol dissectors.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-4512 is operational disruption of network monitoring and analysis activities. Wireshark is widely used by IT security teams, network administrators, and incident responders to capture and analyze network traffic. A successful exploitation causing Wireshark to crash can delay threat detection, forensic investigations, and troubleshooting efforts. This can indirectly affect confidentiality and integrity by impairing timely response to other security incidents. Organizations relying on Wireshark in critical infrastructure sectors (e.g., energy, finance, telecommunications) may experience temporary loss of visibility into network traffic, increasing risk exposure. Since exploitation requires user interaction and local access, remote attackers have limited ability to leverage this vulnerability directly. However, crafted capture files distributed via email or shared repositories could be a vector. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the potential for future attacks. Overall, the impact is medium severity, mainly affecting availability and operational continuity rather than leading to data breaches or remote code execution.

1. Update Wireshark to the latest version as soon as a patch addressing CVE-2023-4512 is released by the Wireshark Foundation. 2. Until a patch is available, avoid opening capture files from untrusted or unknown sources to reduce the risk of triggering the vulnerability. 3. Implement strict network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of Wireshark instances to potentially malicious packet injections. 4. Educate users and security analysts about the risks of opening suspicious capture files and encourage verification of file provenance. 5. Use alternative network analysis tools or offline analysis methods when handling untrusted data. 6. Monitor Wireshark usage logs and system stability to detect abnormal crashes that may indicate exploitation attempts. 7. Employ endpoint protection solutions that can detect and block attempts to exploit application crashes or resource exhaustion. 8. Regularly review and update incident response procedures to include scenarios involving denial of service against security monitoring tools.