CVE-2021-22174Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Application crash via unbounded USB HID allocation

Published Feb 17, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Resource exhaustion in Wireshark 3.4.0 through 3.4.2 allows remote attackers to crash the application via malformed USB HID data. The USB HID parse_report_descriptor function grows the field.usages array from attacker-controlled usage bounds without a sane size limit. A malformed packet injected onto a monitored link or opened from a crafted capture file can exhaust memory and terminate packet analysis.

CVSS severity3.7
Low
EPSS probability2.75%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource exhaustion in Wireshark 3.4.0 through 3.4.2 allows remote attackers to crash the application via malformed USB HID data. The USB HID parse_report_descriptor function grows the field.usages array from attacker-controlled usage bounds without a sane size limit. A malformed packet injected onto a monitored link or opened from a crafted capture file can exhaust memory and terminate packet analysis.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-22174
Published
Feb 17, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-770, T1499
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 17, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>=3.4.0, <3.4.3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Wireshark Foundation · Wiresharkversion=>=3.4.0, <3.4.3

Published CVSS scores

3.7GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
7.5NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.0NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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