CVE-2023-3648 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE • 07/14/2023
Kafka dissector crash in Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.6 and 3.6.0 to 3.6.14 allows denial of service via packet injection or crafted capture file
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/07/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-3648 represents a critical denial of service flaw within Wireshark's Kafka protocol dissector affecting versions 4.0.0 through 4.0.6 and 3.6.0 through 3.6.14. This issue stems from improper handling of malformed Kafka protocol packets during network traffic analysis, creating a scenario where malicious actors can trigger application crashes through carefully crafted packet injection or capture file manipulation. The flaw specifically impacts the dissector component responsible for interpreting Apache Kafka messaging protocol traffic, which is widely used in enterprise environments for distributed streaming and message queuing systems.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in insufficient input validation and error handling within the Kafka dissector implementation. When Wireshark processes Kafka protocol packets containing malformed or unexpected data structures, the dissector fails to properly sanitize input before attempting to parse complex nested message formats. This lack of robust validation creates a condition where memory corruption or stack overflow scenarios can occur, leading to application instability and eventual crash. The vulnerability operates at the protocol parsing layer, making it particularly dangerous as it can be triggered simply by analyzing network traffic containing malicious Kafka messages or by opening specially crafted capture files that contain such malformed data.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-3648 extends beyond simple application disruption, as it can severely compromise network monitoring capabilities and forensic analysis operations. Security teams relying on Wireshark for network traffic inspection may find their monitoring systems rendered unusable when encountering malicious Kafka traffic or when analyzing compromised network captures. This vulnerability directly affects the integrity of network security operations and can be exploited in various attack scenarios including network reconnaissance, where attackers might inject malicious Kafka packets to disrupt monitoring systems, or during incident response when forensic analysts attempt to analyze compromised network data. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, heap-based buffer overflow, and CWE-129, insufficient input validation, while also mapping to ATT&CK technique T1070.004 for indicator removal and T1566.001 for spearphishing with social engineering.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected Wireshark installations to versions that contain the necessary fixes for the Kafka dissector. Network security teams should also implement additional monitoring for unusual Kafka traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, while maintaining strict controls over capture file handling to prevent execution of untrusted network data. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation to limit exposure and establish robust incident response procedures for handling potential exploitation attempts. The fix typically involves enhanced input validation and proper error handling within the dissector code to gracefully handle malformed Kafka protocol data without causing application crashes, aligning with industry best practices for secure protocol parsing and defensive programming techniques recommended by both NIST and ISO/IEC 27001 standards for information security management.