WiresharkApplication
CVE-2016-4080
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 · uneditedepan/dissectors/packet-pktc.c in the PKTC dissector in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.11 and 2.0.x before 2.0.3 misparses timestamp fields, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read and 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 confidenceThe PKTC dissector in Wireshark contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in its timestamp field parsing logic (packet-pktc.c). When processing a crafted packet with malformed timestamp data, the dissector reads beyond allocated buffer boundaries, causing a denial of service via application crash.
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
= 1.12.0= 1.12.1= 1.12.2= 1.12.3= 1.12.4= 1.12.5= 1.12.6= 1.12.7= 1.12.8= 1.12.9= 1.12.10= 2.0.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Wireshark versionRun 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' to determine the installed Wireshark versionAffected if Version is 1.12.0 through 1.12.10 or 2.0.0 through 2.0.2 (these are the vulnerable versions)
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Verify PKTC dissector is availableCheck if the PKTC dissector module exists in the Wireshark installation. On Linux, look for 'packet-pktc.c' or 'packet-pktc.so' in the dissector directory. On Windows, check the plugins folder for pktc functionalityAffected if PKTC dissector is present in the Wireshark installation on a vulnerable version
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Confirm dissector is enabled by defaultOpen Wireshark GUI, go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols, and verify PKTC protocol is in the list and enabled. Alternatively, check the 'dissectors' configuration or default protocols listAffected if PKTC protocol is listed as enabled in the default protocol configuration
You are affected if you have Wireshark version 1.12.0-1.12.10 or 2.0.0-2.0.2 AND the PKTC dissector is present and enabled, because processing a malformed packet with this vulnerable dissector could trigger the out-of-bounds read crash
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade Wireshark to version 1.12.11 or later (1.12.x) or version 2.0.3 or later (2.0.x). If upgrade is not possible, disable the PKTC dissector or avoid opening untrusted packet capture files.
Fix this in Wireshark
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4080 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-4080 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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