VulnerabilityPublished 25 Feb 2026Updated 17 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-3203: Wireshark · Buffer Over-read

Affects WiresharkSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium : upgrade to 4.6.4 or 4.4.14 when convenient.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 8% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 4.6.4, 4.4.14

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

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

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: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
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: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 Oct 2026.

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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity 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

Upgrade Wireshark to 4.6.4 or 4.4.14.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Wireshark FoundationWireshark	Affected >=4.6.0 <4.6.4	Fixed in 4.6.4
Wireshark FoundationWireshark	Affected >=4.4.0 <4.4.14	Fixed in 4.4.14
GitHubwireshark/wireshark`pkg:github/wireshark/wireshark`Other threats	Affected =4.6.0 =4.4.0	Fixed in–

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

AI-suggested

Avoid opening untrusted or suspicious capture files containing RF4CE protocol data until a patch is available.
Run Wireshark with the least privileges necessary to limit the impact of crashes.
Use network segmentation and access controls to restrict exposure of Wireshark hosts to untrusted networks or capture files.
Monitor vendor announcements and apply security updates promptly once patches addressing CVE-2026-3203 are released.
Consider disabling or filtering RF4CE protocol dissector in Wireshark if not required for analysis to reduce attack surface.
Employ alternative packet analysis tools or sandbox environments for opening unknown capture files to isolate potential crashes.
Educate users on the risks of opening capture files from unverified sources and enforce policies for safe handling of network captures.
Implement robust logging and monitoring to detect abnormal Wireshark crashes that may indicate exploitation attempts. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on protocol-specific mitigations, privilege management, and operational controls tailored to Wireshark usage scenarios.

Description

RF4CE Profile protocol dissector crash in Wireshark 4.6.0 to 4.6.3 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.13 allows denial of service

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-3203 is denial of service due to application crashes when Wireshark processes malformed RF4CE protocol data. This can disrupt network analysis, monitoring, and incident response activities, potentially delaying detection and mitigation of other network threats. Organizations relying heavily on Wireshark for real-time or forensic packet analysis may experience operational interruptions. Since the vulnerability does not affect confidentiality or integrity, it does not directly lead to data leakage or unauthorized data modification. However, the loss of availability in critical network diagnostic tools can indirectly increase risk by impairing security teams' visibility. The requirement for user interaction and local access limits remote exploitation, reducing the attack surface. Nonetheless, attackers with access to network capture files or the ability to inject malicious RF4CE traffic could trigger crashes, especially in environments where Wireshark is used to analyze RF4CE-enabled devices or networks. The absence of known exploits in the wild suggests limited current exploitation but does not preclude future attacks once exploit code becomes available. Overall, the impact is moderate but significant for organizations dependent on Wireshark for network security operations.

CWE-126Buffer Over-read (opens in a new tab)
Variant weakness
The product reads from a buffer using buffer access mechanisms such as indexes or pointers that reference memory locations after the targeted buffer.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Mar 2026, 18:23 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-126

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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