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CVE-2016-2521

25
FAUCET Score

CVE-2016-2521 describes an untrusted search path vulnerability in Wireshark versions 1.12.x before 1.12.10 and 2.0.x before 2.0.2 on Windows. This flaw allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges by placing a malicious riched20.dll.dll file in the current working directory, which Wireshark's QLibrary then loads. The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 7.8 (High), indicating a significant risk with local access, low attack complexity, and high potential for confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. There is no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), or significant community discussion surrounding this CVE.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
1.12.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:wireshark:wireshark:1.12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.12.1CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:wireshark:wireshark:1.12.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.12.2CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:wireshark:wireshark:1.12.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.12.3CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:wireshark:wireshark:1.12.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.12.4CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:wireshark:wireshark:1.12.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

7.8HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
1.8
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
0.40%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
32.4%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0040 is in the 72nd percentile among its peer group of 17,070 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.2 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2016-2521Moderate

wireshark: DLL hijacking vulnerability (wnpa-sec-2016-01)

Feb 26, 2016

References

code.wireshark.org / review/gitweb
security.gentoo.org / glsa/201604-05
oracle.com / technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html
securitytracker.com / id/1035118
wireshark.org / security/wnpa-sec-2016-01.html
Vendor Advisory