CVE-2026-43901
Path Traversal in Wireshark MCP Server
Publication date: 2026-05-11
Last updated on: 2026-05-11
Assigner: GitHub, Inc.
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| wireshark | wireshark_mcp | to 1.1.5 (exc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-22 | The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability exists in Wireshark MCP version 1.1.5 and earlier. The wireshark_export_objects tool accepts a destination directory parameter (dest_dir) controlled by an attacker and passes it directly to tshark's --export-objects flag without enforcing any mandatory path restrictions.
By default, there is no path sandboxing because the _allowed_dirs variable is None unless the environment variable WIRESHARK_MCP_ALLOWED_DIRS is explicitly set. This means that in a default installation, an attacker can specify any directory on the filesystem as the export destination.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to write exported objects to arbitrary directories on the filesystem. Because there is no enforced path restriction by default, this could lead to unauthorized file writes.
The CVSS score indicates a moderate severity (6.8) with high impact on confidentiality and integrity, meaning sensitive data could be exposed or altered. However, availability is not affected.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
To mitigate this vulnerability, you should explicitly set the environment variable WIRESHARK_MCP_ALLOWED_DIRS to restrict the allowed export directories for the wireshark_export_objects MCP tool.
By default, the path sandbox (_allowed_dirs) is None, meaning any directory can be used as the export destination, which is insecure.
Setting WIRESHARK_MCP_ALLOWED_DIRS limits the directories where exported objects can be saved, preventing attackers from writing files to arbitrary locations.