CVE-2024-4853VulnerabilityPublished 14 May 2024Updated 27 Mar 2026

CVE-2024-4853: Wireshark Foundation editcap · Mismatched Memory Management Routines

Affects Wireshark Foundation editcapSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.6 Low.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.6Low

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 35% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

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

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 14 May 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubwireshark/wireshark`pkg:github/wireshark/wireshark`Other threats	Affected =4.2.0 =4.0.0 =3.6.0	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-4853, organizations should: 1) Avoid opening or processing capture files from untrusted or unknown sources with editcap until a patch is available. 2) Implement strict file validation and sandboxing when handling capture files to limit potential damage from malformed inputs. 3) Monitor Wireshark Foundation announcements for patches or updates addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly once released. 4) Restrict local access to systems running editcap to trusted users only, minimizing the risk of malicious file execution. 5) Incorporate capture file integrity checks and scanning in workflows to detect anomalies before processing. 6) Consider alternative tools or updated versions that do not exhibit this vulnerability for critical operations. 7) Educate users about the risks of processing unverified capture files and enforce security policies accordingly.

Description

Memory handling issue in editcap could cause denial of service via crafted capture file

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-4853 is a denial of service condition caused by application crashes when editcap processes maliciously crafted capture files. This can disrupt network analysis, forensic investigations, and troubleshooting activities that rely on editcap for manipulating capture data. While the vulnerability does not expose sensitive data or allow unauthorized code execution, the availability impact can affect operational efficiency and incident response capabilities. Organizations that integrate editcap into automated workflows or rely on it for critical network monitoring may experience interruptions. Since exploitation requires local access and user interaction, remote exploitation risk is minimal, limiting the threat to users who directly handle capture files. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the vulnerability should be addressed to maintain tool reliability and prevent potential escalation in complex attack scenarios.

CWE-762Mismatched Memory Management Routines (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Low
The product attempts to return a memory resource to the system, but it calls a release function that is not compatible with the function that was originally used to allocate that resource.
Implementation
Only call matching memory management functions. Do not mix and match routines. For example, when you allocate a buffer with malloc(), dispose of the original pointer with free().
Implementation · Libraries or Frameworks
Choose a language or tool that provides automatic memory management, or makes manual memory management less error-prone.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Mar 2026, 18:17 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-762

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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