CVE-2026-6531 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') in Wireshark

Medium 5.5 Published Updated

An attacker can cause a denial of service in Wireshark by triggering an infinite loop in the SANE protocol 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-2026-6531?

CVE-2026-6531 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Wireshark Wireshark, published on 30 Apr 2026. 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

SANE protocol dissector infinite loop in Wireshark 4.6.0 to 4.6.4 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.14 allows denial of service

Weakness: CWE-835

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-6531?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Wireshark Wireshark.

How do I fix CVE-2026-6531?

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-2026-6531 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-6531 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Wireshark Wireshark vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as AZL-85127, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-6531, GHSA-5mwh-vg7p-2624, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-6531.

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