Crash via mismatched FT element lengths
Published Sep 29, 2026 · Updated Sep 29, 2026
IEEE 802.11 dissector flaw in Wireshark 4.4.0 through 4.4.18 and 4.6.0 through 4.6.8 allows attackers to crash packet analysis. Dot11DecryptFtMicCheck combines the length of one Fast BSS Transition element with the MIC length of another, then passes an underflowed read length to gcry_mac_write. A crafted capture file or live wireless frame triggers the crash only when 802.11 decryption is enabled and at least one key is configured; the reported effect is process termination, not data modification.
Summary
What happened
IEEE 802.11 dissector flaw in Wireshark 4.4.0 through 4.4.18 and 4.6.0 through 4.6.8 allows attackers to crash packet analysis. Dot11DecryptFtMicCheck combines the length of one Fast BSS Transition element with the MIC length of another, then passes an underflowed read length to gcry_mac_write. A crafted capture file or live wireless frame triggers the crash only when 802.11 decryption is enabled and at least one key is configured; the reported effect is process termination, not data modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-96416
- Published
- Sep 29, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 29, 2026
- Vendor
- Wireshark Foundation
- Product
- Wireshark
- Classifications
- CWE-122, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 29, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 29, 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 <4.4.19
- Affected versionversion=4.6.0 <4.6.9
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Single-frame IEEE 802.11 FT 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
Get started to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Get started