CVE-2026-96417
Description
A flaw was found in Wireshark. By convincing a user to open a specially crafted capture file containing malformed Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (RF4CE) network traffic, an attacker can cause the RF4CE protocol dissector to crash. This issue primarily results in a Denial of Service (DoS) by terminating the application.
Mitigation
Disable the RF4CE dissector in Wireshark or tshark to prevent processing of malformed packets:
1. Graphical user interface:
Navigate to Analyze -> Enabled Protocols, search for "RF4CE", uncheck the checkbox, and click OK.
2. Command-line interface (tshark):
Invoke tshark with the protocol disabled:
tshark --disable-protocol rf4ce -r <capture_file>
3. Configuration file:
Add the protocol identifier to the disabled protocols configuration file:
echo "rf4ce" >> ~/.config/wireshark/disabled_protos
Caveats:
Disabling the RF4CE dissector prevents Wireshark from decoding RF4CE frames, displaying them only as raw payload data. Active Wireshark processes must be restarted for configuration file changes to take effect. As a general operational security practice, do not run Wireshark or tshark with elevated (root) privileges when inspecting untrusted capture files.
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)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
NULL pointer dereferences usually result in the failure of the process unless exception handling (on some platforms) is available and implemented. Even when exception handling is being used, it can still be very difficult to return the software to a safe state of operation.
Integrity,Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Read Memory; Modify Memory
In rare circumstances, when NULL is equivalent to the 0x0 memory address and privileged code can access it, then writing or reading memory is possible, which may lead to code execution.
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