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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2006-5595

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2006-10-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Unspecified vulnerability in the AirPcap support in Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) 0.99.3 has unspecified attack vectors related to WEP key parsing.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Vulnerability in Wireshark 0.99.3's AirPcap driver support allows unspecified attack vectors during WEP key parsing. The AirPcap hardware is used for wireless packet capture, and the vulnerability affects how WEP encryption keys are processed.

MitigationUpgrade to a newer version of Wireshark that includes the security fix. Avoid using AirPcap devices with WEP-encrypted networks until the patch is applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
WiresharkApplication
Affected:= 0.7.9= 0.8.16= 0.9.10= 0.10= 0.10.4= 0.10.13= 0.99= 0.99.1= 0.99.2= 0.99.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark -v' from command line or open Wireshark and go to Help > About to view the version number
    Affected if The installed version is 0.7.9, 0.8.16, 0.9.10, 0.10, 0.10.4, 0.10.13, 0.99, 0.99.1, 0.99.2, or 0.99.3
  2. Confirm AirPcap driver presence
    On Windows, open Device Manager and look for AirPcap devices under Network adapters, or check if the AirPcap driver (airpcap.dll) is loaded in the Wireshark startup output
    Affected if AirPcap hardware or driver is present and detected by the system
  3. Check for active wireless capture on WEP networks
    Review any active or recent capture sessions for interfaces using AirPcap that are capturing WEP-encrypted wireless traffic
    Affected if AirPcap is being used to capture packets on networks with WEP encryption enabled
  4. Verify AirPcap support is loaded
    Start Wireshark and check the startup log or run 'wireshark -G' to list available capture interfaces, looking for AirPcap entries
    Affected if AirPcap interfaces appear in the list of available capture devices

You are affected if running Wireshark version 0.99.3 (or any of the other listed affected versions) with AirPcap hardware and capturing WEP-encrypted wireless traffic.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a newer version of Wireshark that includes the security fix. Avoid using AirPcap devices with WEP-encrypted networks until the patch is applied.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-5595 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data