# CVE-2016-4083: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can crash Wireshark by sending crafted packets due to missing data checks in the MS-WSP dissector.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Apr 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2016-4083, GHSA-whpg-gq5g-f5h9, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-4083

## What is CVE-2016-4083?

CVE-2016-4083 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wireshark Wireshark, published on 25 Apr 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

epan/dissectors/packet-mswsp.c in the MS-WSP dissector in Wireshark 2.0.x before 2.0.3 does not ensure that data is available before array allocation, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted packet.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-4083?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wireshark Wireshark.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-4083?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2016-4083 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-4083 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Wireshark Wireshark

- [CVE-2011-0444](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0444/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-2994](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2994/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2010-2995](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2995/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-1266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1266/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-1210](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-1210/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-4083 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-4083 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wireshark Wireshark, published on 25 Apr 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-4083 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Wireshark Wireshark. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4083/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4083/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-4083
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-4083
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-4083

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4083/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.