CVE-2026-96416
Description
A flaw was found in Wireshark. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to open a specially crafted packet capture file or by injecting malformed IEEE 802.11 wireless network traffic. Processing these invalid packets causes an application crash in the protocol dissector, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Mitigation
Disable the IEEE 802.11 dissector in Wireshark or avoid processing packet captures from untrusted sources.
1. Dissector configuration:
- In the Wireshark graphical interface, navigate to Analyze -> Enabled Protocols, search for "IEEE 802.11", and deselect it.
- When using command-line tools like TShark, disable the protocol using the `--disable-protocol` flag:
`tshark --disable-protocol wlan -r capture.pcap`
2. Operational controls:
Avoid opening capture files from untrusted sources or capturing live traffic on untrusted wireless networks.
3. Package removal:
If packet analysis tools are not required on the system, remove the package:
`sudo dnf remove wireshark`
Caveats:
Disabling the IEEE 802.11 protocol prevents parsing and decoding of wireless frame structures, leaving traffic presented only as raw payload data. Removing the package removes Wireshark binaries and associated CLI tools.
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)
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
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