CVE-2023-2854Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Crash via unterminated BLF application text

Published May 26, 2023 · Updated Jan 15, 2025

Out-of-bounds memory access in Wireshark 3.6.0 through 3.6.13 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.5 allows attackers to crash it via crafted BLF data. The blf_read_apptextmessage function passes a length-bounded application-text buffer to g_strsplit_set, which reads beyond the heap allocation while splitting attacker-controlled text. The crash occurs when Wireshark or TShark opens a malformed trace, and the vendor also reports reachability through a malformed packet injected onto the wire.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.88%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Out-of-bounds memory access in Wireshark 3.6.0 through 3.6.13 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.5 allows attackers to crash it via crafted BLF data. The blf_read_apptextmessage function passes a length-bounded application-text buffer to g_strsplit_set, which reads beyond the heap allocation while splitting attacker-controlled text. The crash occurs when Wireshark or TShark opens a malformed trace, and the vendor also reports reachability through a malformed packet injected onto the wire.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2854
Published
May 26, 2023
Updated
Jan 15, 2025
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-787, T1204.002, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 26, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 15, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=>=3.6.0, <3.6.14
  2. Affected versionversion=>=4.0.0, <4.0.6

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Wireshark Foundation · Wiresharkversion=>=3.6.0, <3.6.14; version=>=4.0.0, <4.0.6

Published CVSS scores

5.3GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
6.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write
T1204.002User Execution: Malicious File
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

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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