CVE-2026-5408Public exploit

Application crash via unbounded nested-list recursion

Published Apr 30, 2026 · Updated Apr 30, 2026

Uncontrolled recursion in Wireshark 4.4.0 through 4.4.14 and 4.6.0 through 4.6.4 allows attackers to crash it via crafted BT-DHT data. The BT-DHT dissector's dissect_bencoded_list() function recursively parses attacker-controlled nested bencoded lists without enforcing a dissection-depth limit. The demonstrated crash requires BT-DHT Decode As processing and a stack near 1 MB; a default 8 MB Linux stack did not crash, although malformed data can consume excessive CPU.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Uncontrolled recursion in Wireshark 4.4.0 through 4.4.14 and 4.6.0 through 4.6.4 allows attackers to crash it via crafted BT-DHT data. The BT-DHT dissector's dissect_bencoded_list() function recursively parses attacker-controlled nested bencoded lists without enforcing a dissection-depth limit. The demonstrated crash requires BT-DHT Decode As processing and a stack near 1 MB; a default 8 MB Linux stack did not crash, although malformed data can consume excessive CPU.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-5408
Published
Apr 30, 2026
Updated
Apr 30, 2026
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-674, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 30, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 30, 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=4.4.0 <4.4.15
  2. Affected versionversion=4.6.0 <4.6.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Wireshark Foundation · Wiresharkversion=4.4.0 <4.4.15; version=4.6.0 <4.6.5

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 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-674Uncontrolled Recursion
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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