Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability can make Wireshark crash when it analyzes malicious iSCSI traffic or a crafted capture file. The main business impact is disruption to analysts or monitoring workflows, not broad system compromise. Exposure is most relevant where Wireshark 4.0.0 through 4.0.6 is used to inspect untrusted packet captures or live traffic.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate operational risk for security and network teams. Prioritize updates on analyst workstations and monitoring systems, especially where untrusted captures are handled. It is not presented as a remotely exploitable enterprise takeover issue in the provided sources.
Technical view
CVE-2023-3649 is a CWE-126 buffer over-read in Wireshark's iSCSI dissector. The source bundle describes a denial-of-service condition affecting Wireshark 4.0.0 to 4.0.6, triggered through packet injection or crafted capture files. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.3 with local attack vector and required user interaction.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to workstations, jump boxes, or analysis systems running affected Wireshark versions and processing untrusted captures or iSCSI traffic. General servers are not exposed unless Wireshark or related packet analysis workflows are present.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. The described attack context is causing Wireshark to crash through crafted packet data or capture files, which requires access to analyzed traffic or convincing a user to open a malicious capture.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports an iSCSI dissector buffer over-read causing crash conditions. The supplied CVSS vector includes confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts as low, but the narrative evidence mainly supports denial of service. No exploit status beyond packet injection or crafted capture file is provided.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Wireshark according to Wireshark advisory WNPA-SEC-2023-22 or distribution guidance.
- Review Debian LTS guidance if using Debian-packaged Wireshark components.
- Avoid opening untrusted capture files on affected Wireshark versions.
- Use isolated analysis environments for packet captures from unknown sources.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems running Wireshark 4.0.0 through 4.0.6.
- Check whether analysts process iSCSI traffic or untrusted capture files.
- Confirm installed packages match vendor or distribution fixed versions.
- Review crash reports for Wireshark activity involving iSCSI dissection.
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.
CWE-126: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-3649 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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 vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L1.83.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wireshark.org/security/wnpa-sec-2023-22.htmlCVE reference
- GitLab Issue #19164CVE reference · issue-tracking
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2024/09/msg00049.htmlCVE reference
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.
Buffer Over-read
Buffer Over-read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.