CVE-2026-96421
Received Received - Intake

USB HID Protocol Dissector DoS and Memory Leak

Publication date: 2026-09-29

Last updated on: 2026-09-29

Assigner: GitLab Inc.

Description
USB HID protocol dissector infinite loop and memory leak in 4.6.0 to 4.6.8 and 4.4.0 to 4.4.18 allows denial of service

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
Percentile:

Meta Information

Published
2026-09-29
Last Modified
2026-09-29
Generated
2026-09-29
AI Q&A
2026-09-29
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-96421
EUVD
EUVD-2026-88709

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
wireshark wireshark From 4.4.0 (inc) to 4.6.8 (inc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-1325 The product manages a group of objects or resources and performs a separate memory allocation for each object, but it does not properly limit the total amount of memory that is consumed by all of the combined objects.

Attack-Flow Graph

AI Quick Actions

Instant insights powered by AI
Executive Summary

CVE-2026-96421 is a flaw in Wireshark's USB HID protocol dissector that causes an infinite loop and memory leak when processing crafted USB HID report descriptors. The issue occurs due to a wraparound in a 32-bit unsigned integer loop counter, leading to unbounded memory allocation and CPU consumption.

Detection Guidance

Monitor for high CPU usage or system slowdowns when processing USB HID packets. Use Wireshark's built-in tools to analyze capture files for malformed USB HID report descriptors. Check for infinite loops by examining memory consumption during packet dissection.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause denial of service by consuming excessive CPU resources or crashing the Wireshark process. An attacker could exploit it by tricking a user into opening a malicious packet trace file or injecting a malformed packet, though no known exploits currently exist.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily causes denial of service by consuming excessive CPU and memory resources, which could disrupt systems processing USB HID data. While not directly violating GDPR or HIPAA, prolonged denial of service could impact availability of systems handling personal or health data, potentially leading to compliance issues if critical services are disrupted.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Wireshark to version 4.6.9 or 4.4.19 or later. Avoid opening untrusted packet capture files. Disable USB HID protocol dissection if not required. Monitor system resources for abnormal usage patterns.

Chat Assistant

Ask questions about this CVE
Hi! I’m here to help you understand CVE-2026-96421. Ask me anything about the vulnerability, its impact, or mitigation strategies.
0/70

EPSS Chart