CVE-2026-76881

NULL Pointer Dereference in Wireshark

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Published Aug 19, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 4.7 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
CMS protocol dissector crash in 4.6.0 to 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.18 allows denial of service

Analysis

AI-generated

Technical impact

A null pointer dereference flaw exists in the CMS protocol dissector of Wireshark. The bug can cause the application to crash, resulting in a denial‑of‑service condition for users who rely on Wireshark to analyze network traffic. This weakness corresponds to CWE‑476 and is triggered when Wireshark processes data matching the CMS protocol.

Affected Systems

The vulnerability affects Wireshark versions 4.6.0 through 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 through 4.4.18, released by the Wireshark Foundation. Any system running these affected builds and parsing CMS traffic is vulnerable.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score is 4.7, indicating moderate severity, and no EPSS score is available. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Based on the description, the likely attack vector is local user execution; a malicious user or software that feeds crafted CMS traffic into Wireshark can trigger the crash, interrupting network monitoring services. Because the flaw leads only to an application crash rather than code execution, the risk is limited to service disruption.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to version 4.6.8 or above

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Upgrade Wireshark to version 4.6.8 or later.
  • If upgrading immediately is not possible, disable the CMS protocol dissector to prevent the crash from occurring.
  • Restrict use of Wireshark to trusted, privileged users and monitor for crash events to detect attempts to exploit the vulnerability.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on August 20, 2026 at 09:46 UTC.

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6471-1 wireshark security update
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Wireshark
Wireshark wireshark
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:wireshark:wireshark:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Wireshark
Wireshark wireshark
Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 threat_severity

Moderate
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Wireshark Foundation
Wireshark Foundation wireshark
Vendors & Products Wireshark Foundation
Wireshark Foundation wireshark
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description CMS protocol dissector crash in 4.6.0 to 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.18 allows denial of service
Title NULL Pointer Dereference in Wireshark
Weaknesses CWE-476
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 4.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitLab
Published
Updated
Aug 20, 2026, 3:00 PM
Reserved
Aug 19, 2026, 10:34 PM

View source JSON

Updated
Aug 20, 2026, 3:00 PM

JSON

Status
Analyzed
Published
Aug 19, 2026, 11:16 PM
Modified
Sep 1, 2026, 3:19 PM

View source JSON

Severity
Moderate
Public date
Aug 19, 2026, 10:34 PM

View source Bugzilla JSON

Updated
Aug 20, 2026, 10:00 AM

JSON