CVE-2023-5371Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Analysis interruption via RTPS dissector memory leak

Published Oct 4, 2023 · Updated Mar 27, 2026

Resource exhaustion in Wireshark 3.6.0 through 3.6.16 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.8 allows attackers to interrupt RTPS analysis. The RTPS dissector leaks memory while processing malformed packet data, but the vendor has not published the responsible function or allocation path. Reachability requires injected traffic to be captured or a crafted capture file to be opened, after which excessive resource use interrupts packet analysis.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.48%
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 3.6.0 through 3.6.16 and 4.0.0 through 4.0.8 allows attackers to interrupt RTPS analysis. The RTPS dissector leaks memory while processing malformed packet data, but the vendor has not published the responsible function or allocation path. Reachability requires injected traffic to be captured or a crafted capture file to be opened, after which excessive resource use interrupts packet analysis.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-5371
Published
Oct 4, 2023
Updated
Mar 27, 2026
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-789, CWE-770, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 4, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 27, 2026Record 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 <3.6.17
  2. Affected versionversion=4.0.0 <4.0.9

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Wireshark Foundation · Wiresharkversion=3.6.0 <3.6.17; version=4.0.0 <4.0.9

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-789Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value
CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
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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