CVE-2025-5601 in Wireshark
Summary
by MITRE • 06/04/2025
Column handling crashes in Wireshark 4.4.0 to 4.4.6 and 4.2.0 to 4.2.12 allows denial of service via packet injection or crafted capture file
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/21/2025
Wireshark remains one of the most widely used network protocol analyzers in cybersecurity operations and network troubleshooting environments. The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-5601 represents a critical denial of service flaw that affects multiple versions of the application including 4.4.0 through 4.4.6 and 4.2.0 through 4.2.12. This vulnerability specifically targets the column handling functionality within the application's user interface, where improper processing of packet data can lead to application crashes and complete service disruption. The flaw manifests when Wireshark encounters specially crafted packet data or capture files that trigger unexpected behavior in the column rendering system, which is responsible for displaying packet information in tabular format during network analysis operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves memory corruption issues that occur during the processing of column data structures within Wireshark's graphical user interface components. When maliciously constructed packets or capture files are processed, the application fails to properly validate or sanitize column-related data inputs, leading to buffer overflows or invalid memory access patterns that ultimately cause the application to terminate unexpectedly. This behavior aligns with common software security principles where improper input validation leads to memory safety violations, and the vulnerability can be categorized under CWE-121 as heap-based buffer overflow or CWE-125 as out-of-bounds read conditions. The flaw operates at the application layer and requires no special privileges to exploit, making it particularly dangerous in environments where network analysts routinely process untrusted packet captures from multiple sources.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-5601 extends beyond simple application crashes to represent a significant threat to network security operations and incident response workflows. Security professionals who rely on Wireshark for network forensics, intrusion detection, or network troubleshooting may find their analysis tools become unavailable when processing maliciously crafted captures or when analyzing traffic from compromised systems. This vulnerability can be leveraged by attackers to disrupt network monitoring operations, potentially masking malicious activities or preventing security teams from conducting proper network analysis. In enterprise environments where Wireshark is used extensively for security operations, this denial of service condition could effectively disable critical network monitoring capabilities, forcing security teams to rely on alternative tools or methods for network analysis and incident response activities. The attack surface for this vulnerability encompasses any network analyst or security professional who processes packet captures from untrusted sources, including threat intelligence feeds, network traffic logs, or forensic evidence from security incidents.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-5601 should prioritize immediate software updates to versions that contain patches for the column handling flaws. Network security teams should implement strict validation procedures for all packet captures and network traffic data before processing them in Wireshark environments. Organizations should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to untrusted network traffic and capture files. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of input validation and memory safety practices in network analysis tools, as outlined in the software security principles documented in the CWE database and similar frameworks. Security professionals should also consider implementing automated monitoring for application stability and availability, as the denial of service condition may be difficult to detect immediately during routine network analysis activities. Additionally, organizations should maintain backup analysis environments and alternative network monitoring tools to ensure continuity of operations if primary Wireshark installations become unavailable due to this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this type of vulnerability under defensive evasion techniques where adversaries may attempt to disrupt security tool functionality to avoid detection or analysis of their activities.