CVE-2026-81642
Published:September 16, 2026
Updated:September 22, 2026
In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0, a vulnerability was found in the DNSSEC validator that enables denial of service and possible remote code execution as a result of digesting DNSKEYs. A DNSKEY with an owner compression pointer to its own RDATA can overflow the digest buffer. Remote code execution is possible through attacker controlled data. An adversary can exploit the vulnerability by controlling a malicious zone and querying a vulnerable Unbound.
Affected Packages
https://github.com/NLnetLabs/unbound.git (GITHUB):
Affected version(s) >=release-0.5 <release-1.26.1Fix Suggestion:
Update to version release-1.26.1Related Resources (2)
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Contact UsCVSS v4
Base Score:
9.1
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
HIGH
Vulnerable System Integrity
HIGH
Vulnerable System Availability
HIGH
Subsequent System Confidentiality
HIGH
Subsequent System Integrity
HIGH
Subsequent System Availability
HIGH
Exploit Maturity
UNREPORTED
CVSS v3
Base Score:
10
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Weakness Type (CWE)
Heap-based Buffer Overflow
EPSS
Base Score:
0.52