CVE-2025-13946 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') in Wireshark

Medium 5.5 Published 3 Dec 2025 Updated 27 Mar 2026

An attacker can cause a denial of service in Wireshark by triggering an infinite loop in the MEGACO 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-2025-13946?

CVE-2025-13946 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wireshark Wireshark, published on 3 Dec 2025. 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

MEGACO dissector infinite loop in Wireshark 4.6.0 to 4.6.1 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.11 allows denial of service

Weakness: CWE-835

Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-13946?

It affects 1 product.

Linux distribution packages (1)

wireshark SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 All versions 2.4.16-48.66.1

Products include Wireshark Wireshark.

How do I fix CVE-2025-13946?

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-2025-13946 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-13946 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Wireshark Wireshark vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as AZL-71213, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-13946, GHSA-5gwr-vqfx-wj2m, OESA-2026-1058, OESA-2026-1059, OESA-2026-1060 and 4 more.