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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2018-11359

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-05-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.4.6 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
In Wireshark 2.6.0, 2.4.0 to 2.4.6, and 2.2.0 to 2.2.14, the RRC dissector and other dissectors could crash. This was addressed in epan/proto.c by avoiding a NULL pointer dereference.

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

Wireshark versions 2.6.0, 2.4.0-2.4.6, and 2.2.0-2.2.14 contain a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the RRC dissector and other dissectors within epan/proto.c. When processing malformed network packets, the dissector attempts to dereference a NULL pointer, causing Wireshark to crash. This leads to denial of service when a user opens a malicious packet capture file.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 2.6.1, 2.4.7, or 2.2.15 or later, which contain the NULL pointer check fix in epan/proto.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:>= 2.2.0, <= 2.2.14>= 2.4.0, <= 2.4.6= 2.6.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/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. Check Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' from command line to determine the installed Wireshark version
    Affected if Version is 2.2.0-2.2.14, 2.4.0-2.4.6, or 2.6.0 (exact match)
  2. Verify RRC dissector availability
    In Wireshark GUI, go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols and search for RRC (Radio Resource Control), or check 'rrc' in the dissector list
    Affected if RRC dissector is enabled in the Wireshark protocol settings
  3. Confirm epan/proto.c patch status
    Inspect the Wireshark installation binary or source file epan/proto.c for the NULL pointer check fix - compare file modification date or hash against known vulnerable version
    Affected if The NULL pointer check for dissectors is absent in the installed epan/proto.c

User is affected if running an affected Wireshark version (2.2.0-2.2.14, 2.4.0-2.4.6, or 2.6.0) with the RRC dissector enabled and without the fix applied to epan/proto.c.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.4.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Wireshark to version 2.6.1, 2.4.7, or 2.2.15 or later, which contain the NULL pointer check fix in epan/proto.c.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,210
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.

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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-2018-11359 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