Denial of service via short key over-read
Published Aug 19, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026
Out-of-bounds read in Wireshark 4.6.0 through 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 through 4.4.17 allows attackers to crash the Kerberos dissector via malformed packets. When learned-key handling saves an EncryptionKey, save_encryption_key copies only the declared bytes into retained storage but formats a four-byte preview from the original key buffer, so one- to three-byte keys are read past the end. Reachability requires processing attacker-controlled traffic or opening a crafted capture file; the published impact is an application crash and resulting service interrupt, with no stated confidentiality or integrity effect.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds read in Wireshark 4.6.0 through 4.6.7 and 4.4.0 through 4.4.17 allows attackers to crash the Kerberos dissector via malformed packets. When learned-key handling saves an EncryptionKey, save_encryption_key copies only the declared bytes into retained storage but formats a four-byte preview from the original key buffer, so one- to three-byte keys are read past the end. Reachability requires processing attacker-controlled traffic or opening a crafted capture file; the published impact is an application crash and resulting service interrupt, with no stated confidentiality or integrity effect.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-76924
- Published
- Aug 19, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 20, 2026
- Vendor
- Wireshark Foundation
- Product
- Wireshark
- Classifications
- CWE-125, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- 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
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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.
Public exploit references
- Issue 21449 proof-of-concept crash artifactsproof 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
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