CVE-2026-76891: CWE-825: Expired Pointer Dereference in Wireshark Foundation Wireshark

This vulnerability, identified as CWE-825 (Expired Pointer Dereference), affects the Wireshark network protocol analyzer. Specifically, versions 4.4.0 to 4.4.18 and 4.6.0 to 4.6.7 contain a flaw in the sharkd daemon where dereferencing an expired pointer leads to a crash. The issue can be triggered remotely without privileges but requires user interaction. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 3.1, indicating low severity, with network attack vector, high attack complexity, no privileges required, and user interaction needed. The impact is limited to availability (denial of service) with no confidentiality or integrity impact.

Successful exploitation causes a denial of service by crashing the sharkd process. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. The attack requires user interaction and has high complexity, limiting the likelihood of exploitation.

Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. No official fix or patch links are provided in the available data. Users should monitor Wireshark Foundation advisories for updates. Until a patch is available, avoid exposing the sharkd service to untrusted networks and limit user interaction with untrusted data to reduce risk.