What is CVE-2016-2521?

CVE-2016-2521 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wireshark, classified under CWE-264. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-02-28.

How severe is CVE-2016-2521?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Wireshark

CVE-2016-2521

Untrusted search path vulnerability in the WiresharkApplication class in ui/qt/wireshark_application.cpp in Wireshark 1.12.x before 1.12.10 and 2.0.x before 2.0.2 on Windows allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse riched20.dll.dll file in the current working directory, related to use of QLibrary.

Published 2016-02-28 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (31.4th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 31st percentile — 31.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.004 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Wireshark — versions 1.12.0, 1.12.1, 1.12.2

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-264

References

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

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-2521?: CVE-2016-2521 is a high-severity vulnerability in Wireshark, classified under CWE-264. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-02-28.
How severe is CVE-2016-2521?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.