Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2016-4420 is a Wireshark crash issue. A specially crafted packet can make vulnerable Wireshark 2.x versions before 2.0.2 crash while dissecting NFS traffic. The main business impact is disruption to packet analysis and incident response workflows, not confirmed system compromise.
Executive priority
Address during normal vulnerability remediation, with priority for security operations and network analysis teams. The issue can interrupt investigations by crashing Wireshark, but public sources do not indicate compromise of the host or active exploitation.
Technical view
The vulnerability is in Wireshark’s NFS dissector. Public descriptions state that Wireshark 2.x before 2.0.2 is affected and that a crafted packet can cause a denial of service through an application crash. The sources do not identify code execution, privilege escalation, or data theft impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where analysts open untrusted packet captures or monitor network traffic containing NFS packets using Wireshark 2.x before 2.0.2. Systems not running vulnerable Wireshark versions are not exposed based on the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The issue is remotely triggerable through a crafted packet processed by Wireshark’s NFS dissector. The CVE is not listed as CISA KEV, and the provided sources do not state active exploitation or public weaponization.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE description and Wireshark advisory reference. The affected range is stated as Wireshark 2.x before 2.0.2. No CVSS, CWE, exploit status, or detailed root-cause information is provided in the supplied bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Wireshark 2.x installations to version 2.0.2 or later.
- Prioritize analyst workstations and systems processing untrusted packet captures.
- Check Wireshark’s advisory for any additional vendor guidance.
- Avoid opening untrusted captures on vulnerable Wireshark versions until remediated.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Wireshark versions across analyst and monitoring systems.
- Flag Wireshark 2.x versions earlier than 2.0.2.
- Review whether those systems process NFS traffic or untrusted packet captures.
- Confirm remediation by verifying Wireshark reports version 2.0.2 or later.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2016-4420 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2016-17.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.