CVE-2023-4511 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') in Wireshark

Medium 5.3 Published 24 Aug 2023 Updated 27 Mar 2026

An attacker can cause a denial of service in Wireshark via crafted packets or capture files due to an infinite loop in the BT SDP dissector.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2023-4511?

CVE-2023-4511 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wireshark Wireshark, published on 24 Aug 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

BT SDP dissector infinite loop in Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.7 and 3.6.0 to 3.6.15 allows denial of service via packet injection or crafted capture file

Weakness: CWE-835

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-4511?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Wireshark Wireshark.

How do I fix CVE-2023-4511?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2023-4511 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-4511 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Wireshark Wireshark vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2023-4511, GHSA-2rw7-4xg9-x3cw, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-4511.