CVE-2023-2952Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service interruption via XRA dissector infinite loop

Published May 30, 2023 · Updated Nov 3, 2025

An infinite loop in Wireshark's XRA dissector in 3.6.0 through 3.6.13 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.5 allows attackers to crash the application. While dissect_message_channel_mb parses malformed XRA message-channel data in packet-xra.c, its loop fails to reach an exit condition and continues consuming processor time. Reachability requires an injected malformed packet on monitored traffic or interaction with a crafted capture file; the demonstrated consequence is an application hang or crash.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability1.09%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

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Summary

What happened

An infinite loop in Wireshark's XRA dissector in 3.6.0 through 3.6.13 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.5 allows attackers to crash the application. While dissect_message_channel_mb parses malformed XRA message-channel data in packet-xra.c, its loop fails to reach an exit condition and continues consuming processor time. Reachability requires an injected malformed packet on monitored traffic or interaction with a crafted capture file; the demonstrated consequence is an application hang or crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2952
Published
May 30, 2023
Updated
Nov 3, 2025
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-835, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 30, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 3, 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.

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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-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
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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