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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2016-2525

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-02-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
68/100
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
epan/dissectors/packet-http2.c in the HTTP/2 dissector in Wireshark 2.0.x before 2.0.2 does not limit the amount of header data, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption or application crash) via a crafted packet.

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 · high confidence

The HTTP/2 dissector in Wireshark 2.0.x before 2.0.2 lacks proper bounds checking on header data size. A remote attacker sending a crafted packet with excessively large HTTP/2 headers can trigger memory exhaustion or cause the application to crash.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 2.0.2 or later which implements header size limits. If using a custom fork, add validation to enforce maximum header size limits in packet-http2.c.

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:= 2.0.0= 2.0.1

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 installed Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark --version' or check the application About dialog to determine the exact version number
    Affected if The version is 2.0.0 or 2.0.1 specifically
  2. Confirm HTTP/2 protocol support is present
    Check if Wireshark was compiled with HTTP/2 dissection enabled by examining available protocol dissectors or loading a sample pcap with HTTP/2 traffic
    Affected if HTTP/2 dissector is available and loaded in the installation
  3. Verify presence of HTTP/2 traffic capture files
    Search for pcap, pcapng, or cap files that may contain HTTP/2 traffic, or identify live capture interfaces that may receive HTTP/2 packets
    Affected if You have pcap files or live capture sessions containing HTTP/2 protocol traffic

You are affected if Wireshark version 2.0.0 or 2.0.1 is installed and you are processing or may process HTTP/2 traffic through dissection of capture files or live network 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 Wireshark to version 2.0.2 or later which implements header size limits. If using a custom fork, add validation to enforce maximum header size limits in packet-http2.c.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2016-2525 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