CVE-2026-76881Public exploit

Service interrupt via missing algorithm null dereference

Published Aug 19, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in Wireshark CMS dissection before 4.6.8 and 4.4.18 allows attackers to crash Wireshark or TShark via crafted CMS data. CMS signed-attribute verification passes the last decoded algorithm identifier to strcmp() without checking that one was decoded, and an empty digest AlgorithmIdentifier leaves that pointer NULL before the comparison. Exploitation requires malformed CMS content to be dissected from a capture file or live traffic, and the demonstrated consequence is process termination rather than code execution or data modification.

CVSS severity4.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.10%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in Wireshark CMS dissection before 4.6.8 and 4.4.18 allows attackers to crash Wireshark or TShark via crafted CMS data. CMS signed-attribute verification passes the last decoded algorithm identifier to strcmp() without checking that one was decoded, and an empty digest AlgorithmIdentifier leaves that pointer NULL before the comparison. Exploitation requires malformed CMS content to be dissected from a capture file or live traffic, and the demonstrated consequence is process termination rather than code execution or data modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-76881
Published
Aug 19, 2026
Updated
Aug 20, 2026
Vendor
Wireshark Foundation
Product
Wireshark
Classifications
CWE-476
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 19, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 20, 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 <4.4.18
  2. Affected versionversion=4.6.0 <4.6.8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Wireshark Foundation · Wiresharkversion=4.4.0 <4.4.18; version=4.6.0 <4.6.8

Published CVSS scores

4.7National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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-476NULL Pointer Dereference

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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