An infinite loop exists in the OpenFlow v5 protocol dissector in Wireshark releases version 4.6.0 through 4.6.4 and 4.4.0 through 4.4.14. Because the loop has an unreachable exit condition, any instance of the affected dissector processing an OpenFlow packet can exhaust processor resources. The resulting denial of service can cause the Wireshark application to become unresponsive or terminate, impacting user productivity and potentially cascading if the di­sector is run on a critical capture system.

Wireshark Foundation products, specifically Wireshark versions 4.6.0 up to 4.6.4 inclusive and 4.4.0 up to 4.4.14 inclusive, are affected. All users of these releases who process OpenFlow v5 traffic with the default dissector are at risk.

The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 5.5, indicating medium severity. Direct evidence of exploitation in the wild is unavailable and the EPSS score is not published, so the likelihood of exploitation is uncertain. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Attackers would need to supply malicious or specifically crafted OpenFlow packets to a running instance of Wireshark to trigger the loop, implying the likely vector is remote network traffic intercepted by the program.