Service crash via dangling tap listener
Published Aug 19, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026
Expired pointer dereference in sharkd in Wireshark before 4.6.8 and 4.4.18 allows attackers to crash the service via crafted input. In sharkd_session_process_tap(), sharkd registers a stack-local rtpstream_tapinfo_t as a global tap listener and several error returns exit before unregistering it, leaving a dangling pointer that later dereferences freed stack memory during tap reset. Reachability depends on how sharkd is exposed: the vendor describes malformed packets on the wire or crafted capture files, while the issue report demonstrates a crash through a sequence of crafted tap requests against sharkd.
Summary
What happened
Expired pointer dereference in sharkd in Wireshark before 4.6.8 and 4.4.18 allows attackers to crash the service via crafted input. In sharkd_session_process_tap(), sharkd registers a stack-local rtpstream_tapinfo_t as a global tap listener and several error returns exit before unregistering it, leaving a dangling pointer that later dereferences freed stack memory during tap reset. Reachability depends on how sharkd is exposed: the vendor describes malformed packets on the wire or crafted capture files, while the issue report demonstrates a crash through a sequence of crafted tap requests against sharkd.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-76891
- Published
- Aug 19, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 20, 2026
- Vendor
- Wireshark Foundation
- Product
- Wireshark
- Classifications
- CWE-825, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 19, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 20, 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.
- Affected versionversion=4.4.0 <4.4.18
- Affected versionversion=4.6.0 <4.6.8
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Issue 21395 sharkd crash proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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