Description
Wireshark 1.4.x before 1.4.13 and 1.6.x before 1.6.8 on the SPARC and Itanium platforms does not properly perform data alignment for a certain structure member, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a (1) ICMP or (2) ICMPv6 Echo Request packet.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | wireshark | 1.6.8-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | wireshark | 1.6.8-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | wireshark | 1.6.8-1 | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | wireshark | 2.2.2-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10199-1 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Exploit-DB 1
- Wireshark - Misaligned Memory Denial of Service EDB-18920 · dos · May 24, 2012 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10199-1 wireshark-2.2.2-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- MDVSA-2012:015 vendor-advisory
- http://anonsvn.wireshark.org/viewvc?view=revision&revision=42393
- 1027094 vdb-entry
- MDVSA-2012:042 vendor-advisory
- http://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2012-10.html
- 49226 third-party-advisory
- https://bugs.wireshark.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=7221
- MDVSA-2012:080 vendor-advisory
- 53653 vdb-entry