CVE-2026-96415
Description
A flaw was found in Wireshark. The Catapult DCT2000 protocol dissector is susceptible to a crash that results in a Denial of Service (DoS). An attacker could exploit this flaw by injecting malformed network packets or by tricking a user into opening a specially crafted capture file, causing the application to terminate unexpectedly.
Mitigation
Avoid processing packet capture files obtained from untrusted sources and avoid live packet capturing on untrusted networks.
Alternatively, disable the Catapult DCT2000 protocol dissector if it is not required:
1. In the Wireshark GUI, open Analyze -> Enabled Protocols, search for "Catapult DCT2000" (or "dct2000"), uncheck the checkbox, and click OK.
2. For command-line analysis using TShark, supply the command-line flag:
tshark --disable-protocol dct2000
Caveat: Disabling the dissector prevents Wireshark and TShark from decoding Catapult DCT2000 network traffic, rendering it as raw payload data.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | N/A | 5.5 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | Required |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Write operations could cause memory corruption. In some cases, an adversary can modify control data such as return addresses in order to execute unexpected code.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
Attempting to access out-of-range, invalid, or unauthorized memory could cause the product to crash.
Other
Technical Impact: Unexpected State
Subsequent write operations can produce undefined or unexpected results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
