CVE-2026-15166Public exploit

Application crash via unchecked EAPOL-Key decryption length

Published Jul 8, 2026 · Updated Jul 8, 2026

Stack-based buffer overflow in Wireshark 4.4.0 through 4.4.16 and 4.6.0 through 4.6.6 allows attackers to crash it via a trace file. Dot11DecryptDecryptKeyData copies an attacker-controlled 16-bit EAPOL-Key length into a fixed 1,024-byte stack buffer without checking the destination size. The crash requires WPA decryption to be enabled, a valid security association for the BSSID, and user interaction to open the malformed packet trace.

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

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Stack-based buffer overflow in Wireshark 4.4.0 through 4.4.16 and 4.6.0 through 4.6.6 allows attackers to crash it via a trace file. Dot11DecryptDecryptKeyData copies an attacker-controlled 16-bit EAPOL-Key length into a fixed 1,024-byte stack buffer without checking the destination size. The crash requires WPA decryption to be enabled, a valid security association for the BSSID, and user interaction to open the malformed packet trace.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-15166
Published
Jul 8, 2026
Updated
Jul 8, 2026
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-121
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 8, 2026Record 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=4.4.0 <4.4.17
  2. Affected versionversion=4.6.0 <4.6.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Wireshark Foundation · Wiresharkversion=4.4.0 <4.4.17; version=4.6.0 <4.6.7

Published CVSS scores

5.5GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-121Stack-based Buffer Overflow

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo