CVE-2018-14644

What it is

An issue has been found in PowerDNS Recursor from 4.0.0 up to and including 4.1.4. A remote attacker sending a DNS query for a meta-type like OPT can lead to a zone being wrongly cached as failing DNSSEC validation. It only arises if the parent zone is signed, and all the authoritative servers for that parent zone answer with FORMERR to a query for at least one of the meta-types. As a result, subsequent queries from clients requesting DNSSEC validation will be answered with a ServFail.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. Limited direct impact.

Exploit odds

4.8% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2018-11-09 19:29 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 01:41 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 4.8% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 5.3 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2018-11-09 19:29 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 01:41 UTC

Exploit probability

4.8% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-20 · Improper input validation

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Powerdns Recursor ≤ 4.1.4

Attack profile CVSS 3.0 · 5.3

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

Low

Is it in your code?

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