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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2023-3649

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.0.6 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges

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
iSCSI dissector crash in Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.6 allows denial of service via packet injection or crafted capture file

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 iSCSI protocol dissector in Wireshark versions 4.0.0 through 4.0.6 contains a flaw that causes a crash when processing specially crafted iSCSI packets, either from packet injection or from opening a malicious capture file. This results in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 4.0.7 or later to patch the vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted capture files or processing traffic from untrusted sources.

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:>= 4.0.0, <= 4.0.6

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Wireshark version
    Run 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version' from command line, or go to Help > About Wireshark in the GUI and note the version number displayed
    Affected if The version shown is 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2, 4.0.3, 4.0.4, 4.0.5, or 4.0.6 (vulnerable range)
  2. Confirm iSCSI protocol dissector is available
    Open Wireshark GUI, go to Analyze > Enabled Protocols, and search for 'ISCSI' in the protocol list; or check if iSCSI packets appear in any capture file
    Affected if The iSCSI protocol dissector is present and can decode iSCSI traffic (it is enabled by default in affected versions)
  3. Identify iSCSI traffic or capture files in your environment
    Review your capture files (PCAP/PCAPNG) for iSCSI protocol packets using 'tshark -r <filename> -Y iscsi' or inspect live capture interfaces for iSCSI traffic
    Affected if You have capture files containing iSCSI packets, or you actively monitor iSCSI storage traffic on your network

You are affected if your Wireshark installation is version 4.0.0 through 4.0.6 AND you open capture files containing iSCSI packets or process iSCSI protocol traffic from untrusted sources, as this triggers the dissector crash.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 4.0.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Wireshark to version 4.0.7 or later to patch the vulnerability. Avoid opening untrusted capture files or processing traffic from untrusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Wireshark 4.0.7 or later stable release (4.2.x recommended for latest features and security fixes)

  1. 1. Determine the current Wireshark version by running 'wireshark --version' or checking Help > About Wireshark
  2. 2. If running Wireshark 4.0.0 through 4.0.6, plan for upgrade
  3. 3. Backup any custom profiles, dissector configurations, or personal preferences if desired
  4. 4. Download the fixed Wireshark version from the official Wireshark website (www.wireshark.org) or your system's package manager
  5. 5. Install the updated version (4.0.7 or later stable release)
  6. 6. Verify the new version is installed by running 'wireshark --version'
  7. 7. Test that Wireshark launches successfully and can parse iSCSI traffic without crashing
Caveat Minimal - minor version upgrades within the 4.x series typically preserve configuration and preferences; however, some dissector changes may affect display filter behavior for edge cases

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-3649 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