CVE-2023-2857Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Process crash via unchecked BLF container lengths

Published May 26, 2023 · Updated Jan 15, 2025

Heap-buffer overflow in Wireshark 3.6.0 through 3.6.13 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.5 allows attackers to crash it via a crafted BLF file. The blf_pull_logcontainer_into_memory function copies 28 bytes into a 15-byte heap allocation after accepting inconsistent BLF container values. Exploitation requires a user to open the malformed capture file, corrupting heap state and terminating the Wireshark or TShark process.

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

Heap-buffer overflow in Wireshark 3.6.0 through 3.6.13 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.5 allows attackers to crash it via a crafted BLF file. The blf_pull_logcontainer_into_memory function copies 28 bytes into a 15-byte heap allocation after accepting inconsistent BLF container values. Exploitation requires a user to open the malformed capture file, corrupting heap state and terminating the Wireshark or TShark process.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2857
Published
May 26, 2023
Updated
Jan 15, 2025
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-787, T1204.002
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

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=>=3.6.0, <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

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

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-787Out-of-bounds Write
T1204.002Malicious File

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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