CVE-2023-3648Public exploit

Process crash via freed Snappy buffer read

Published Jul 14, 2023 · Updated Nov 3, 2025

Heap use-after-free in the Kafka dissector in Wireshark 3.6.0 through 3.6.14 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.6 allows attackers to crash the process. decompress_snappy frees the decompressed buffer while a TVB still references it, and dissect_kafka_record then reads a variable-length integer from that freed storage. Processing an injected malformed packet or opening a crafted capture file triggers the crash, interrupting the analysis session.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.25%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Heap use-after-free in the Kafka dissector in Wireshark 3.6.0 through 3.6.14 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.6 allows attackers to crash the process. decompress_snappy frees the decompressed buffer while a TVB still references it, and dissect_kafka_record then reads a variable-length integer from that freed storage. Processing an injected malformed packet or opening a crafted capture file triggers the crash, interrupting the analysis session.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-3648
Published
Jul 14, 2023
Updated
Nov 3, 2025
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-762, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 14, 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 <3.6.15
  2. Affected versionversion=4.0.0 <4.0.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Wireshark Foundation · Wiresharkversion=3.6.0 <3.6.15; version=4.0.0 <4.0.7

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/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.

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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)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-762Mismatched Memory Management Routines
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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