WiresharkApplication
CVE-2016-9373
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 · uneditedIn Wireshark 2.2.0 to 2.2.1 and 2.0.0 to 2.0.7, the DCERPC dissector could crash with a use-after-free, triggered by network traffic or a capture file. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/packet-dcerpc-nt.c and epan/dissectors/packet-dcerpc-spoolss.c by using the wmem file scope for private strings.
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 confidenceA use-after-free vulnerability exists in Wireshark's DCERPC dissector (packet-dcerpc-nt.c and packet-dcerpc-spoolss.c). The issue stems from improper memory management of private strings, where memory is freed but still referenced, leading to a crash when processing malicious network traffic or a crafted capture file.
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
= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.0.2= 2.0.3= 2.0.4= 2.0.5= 2.0.6= 2.0.7= 2.2.0= 2.2.1
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0CVSS 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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Identify Wireshark installationRun 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' to get the installed Wireshark versionAffected if Version is 2.0.0 through 2.0.7, or 2.2.0 through 2.2.1
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Verify DCERPC dissector is presentCheck that the DCERPC dissector files (packet-dcerpc-nt.c, packet-dcerpc-spoolss.c) exist in the Wireshark installation directory, typically under epan/dissectors/Affected if The dissector module is loaded as part of the Wireshark installation
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Confirm DCERPC traffic processingInspect any active capture files (.pcap, .pcapng) or live capture sessions for DCERPC protocol traffic using 'tshark -r <file> -Y dcerpc' or monitoring active interfacesAffected if DCERPC traffic is being dissected or the capture file contains DCERPC protocol packets
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Check for recent crash logsReview Wireshark crash logs or stderr output for use-after-free errors related to DCERPC dissector when opening suspicious capture filesAffected if Crashes occur when opening capture files containing DCERPC traffic
A user is affected if Wireshark version 2.0.0-2.0.7 or 2.2.0-2.2.1 is installed AND the DCERPC dissector processes malicious or crafted network traffic.
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 dataUpdate Wireshark to version 2.2.2, 2.0.8, or later, which contains the fix using wmem file scope for proper memory lifecycle management.
Fix this in Wireshark
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-9373 — 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-2016-9373 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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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.
- 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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