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WiresharkApplication

CVE-2026-0959

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.4.13 / 4.6.3 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
IEEE 802.11 protocol dissector crash in Wireshark 4.6.0 to 4.6.2 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.12 allows denial of service

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

A denial-of-service vulnerability exists in the IEEE 802.11 protocol dissector of Wireshark versions 4.6.0 through 4.6.2 and 4.4.0 through 4.4.12. The dissector crashes when processing malformed 802.11 packets, causing Wireshark to terminate unexpectedly.

MitigationUpgrade Wireshark to version 4.6.3 or later (for the 4.6.x branch) or 4.4.13 or later (for the 4.4.x branch) to patch the vulnerability. Alternatively, avoid opening untrusted packet capture files until the upgrade is applied.

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:>= 4.4.0, < 4.4.13>= 4.6.0, < 4.6.3

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 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 to identify the exact version number
    Affected if The version shown is 4.4.0 through 4.4.12, or 4.6.0 through 4.6.2 (vulnerable ranges)
  2. Confirm 802.11 dissector is available
    The IEEE 802.11 dissector is included by default in Wireshark installations. No explicit enablement check is needed as it loads automatically when parsing wireless packet captures
    Affected if The dissector is present in the installation (default behavior)
  3. Identify exposure to untrusted capture files
    Determine if you open packet capture files (.pcap, .pcapng, etc.) from untrusted sources, or capture live traffic on networks with unknown devices
    Affected if You routinely open capture files from external sources or capture on uncontrolled wireless networks
  4. Verify Wireshark can process 802.11 frames
    Open any wireless capture file or capture live WiFi traffic using Wireshark or TShark
    Affected if Wireshark successfully parses 802.11 packets, meaning the dissector is active and could crash if malformed packets are encountered

You are affected if your installed Wireshark version falls within 4.4.0-4.4.12 or 4.6.0-4.6.2 AND you process 802.11 packet captures (which is the default behavior for wireless traffic analysis).

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 4.4.13 / 4.6.3 or later
Fixed in 4.4.134.6.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Wireshark to version 4.6.3 or later (for the 4.6.x branch) or 4.4.13 or later (for the 4.4.x branch) to patch the vulnerability. Alternatively, avoid opening untrusted packet capture files until the upgrade is applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Wireshark 4.6.3 or later (or 4.4.13+ if staying on 4.4 branch)

  1. 1. Check current Wireshark version by running 'wireshark --version' or 'tshark --version'
  2. 2. Identify which branch you are using (4.4.x or 4.6.x)
  3. 3. For the 4.6.x branch: upgrade to Wireshark 4.6.3 or later (preferred)
  4. 4. For the 4.4.x branch: upgrade to Wireshark 4.4.13 or later
  5. 5. Download from https://www.wireshark.org/download.html or use your system's package manager
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the new version
Caveat Minor - Wireshark upgrades typically have backward compatibility for capture files; some older dissector plugins may need updating

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

Fix this in Wireshark Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2026-0959 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