WiresharkApplication
CVE-2018-5335
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 2.4.0 to 2.4.3 and 2.2.0 to 2.2.11, the WCP dissector could crash. This was addressed in epan/dissectors/packet-wcp.c by validating the available buffer length.
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 WCP dissector in Wireshark 2.4.0-2.4.3 and 2.2.0-2.2.11 contains a buffer validation flaw where it fails to check the available buffer length before processing packet data, allowing malformed packets to trigger a crash (denial of service). The fix involves adding proper boundary checks in epan/dissectors/packet-wcp.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
>= 2.2.0, <= 2.2.11>= 2.4.0, <= 2.4.3
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0= 8.0= 9.0CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 installed Wireshark versionRun 'wireshark --version' on Linux or use Help > About Wireshark on Windows/Mac to get the exact version numberAffected if Version is 2.2.0 through 2.2.11 or 2.4.0 through 2.4.3
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Check if Wireshark was installed via Debian packagesRun 'dpkg -l | grep wireshark' on Debian-based systems to see the installed package versionAffected if Package version corresponds to the affected Wireshark versions listed in the CVE
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Confirm WCP dissector is availableOpen Wireshark and go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols, then search for 'WCP' in the protocol list to verify the dissector is enabled by defaultAffected if WCP protocol is present and enabled (it is enabled by default in affected versions)
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Determine if processing untrusted capture files is possibleCheck if users have permission to open pcap files from external or untrusted sources, or if Wireshark is used in an automated pipeline processing such filesAffected if Users or automated tools can open capture files from untrusted sources using a vulnerable Wireshark installation
You are affected if Wireshark version 2.2.0-2.2.11 or 2.4.0-2.4.3 is installed and the WCP dissector is enabled, allowing malformed packets to cause a denial of service.
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 2.4.4 or later (for the 2.4.x branch) or 2.2.12 or later (for the 2.2.x branch). Alternatively, avoid opening capture files from untrusted sources or disable the WCP dissector if updates are not feasible.
Fix this in Wireshark
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5335 — 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-2018-5335 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data