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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2018-14343

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-07-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.6.1 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 to 2.6.1, 2.4.0 to 2.4.7, and 2.2.0 to 2.2.15, the ASN.1 BER dissector could crash. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/packet-ber.c by ensuring that length values do not exceed the maximum signed integer.

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 ASN.1 BER dissector in Wireshark versions 2.2.0-2.2.15, 2.4.0-2.4.7, and 2.6.0-2.6.1 lacks proper bounds checking on length values, allowing malformed packets with length values exceeding the maximum signed integer to trigger a crash (denial of service). The fix adds validation in packet-ber.c to reject oversized length values before processing.

MitigationUpgrade to Wireshark 2.6.2, 2.4.8, or 2.2.16 or later. Alternatively, avoid opening untrusted packet capture files or live capture from untrusted sources until patched.

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, <= 2.2.15>= 2.4.0, <= 2.4.7>= 2.6.0, <= 2.6.1
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 installed Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark --version' or open Wireshark and go to Help > About
    Affected if Version is 2.2.0-2.2.15, 2.4.0-2.4.7, or 2.6.0-2.6.1
  2. Confirm Wireshark BER dissector is present
    Check that the 'packet-ber.c' dissector file exists in the Wireshark installation directory (epan/dissectors/packet-ber.c in source, or inspect the installed epan/dissectors folder)
    Affected if The BER dissector is available (it is included by default in Wireshark installations) and the version is in the affected range above
  3. Verify processing of BER/ASN.1 traffic
    Inspect any packet capture files or live captures that may contain ASN.1 BER encoded protocols (such as SNMP, LDAP, PKI certificates, Diameter, etc.)
    Affected if You process BER/ASN.1 traffic with an affected Wireshark version - malformed packets with oversized length values can trigger the crash

You are affected if Wireshark version 2.2.0-2.2.15, 2.4.0-2.4.7, or 2.6.0-2.6.1 is installed and you process BER/ASN.1 encoded packet data.

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 2.6.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Wireshark 2.6.2, 2.4.8, or 2.2.16 or later. Alternatively, avoid opening untrusted packet capture files or live capture from untrusted sources until patched.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,040.

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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-2018-14343 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