CVE-2026-42944

What it is

NLnet Labs Unbound 1.14.0 up to and including version 1.25.0 has a vulnerability that results in heap overflow when encoding multiple NSID and/or DNS Cookie EDNS and/or EDNS Padding options in the reply packet. The relevant options ('nsid', 'answer-cookie', 'pad-responses' (default)) need to be enabled for the vulnerability to be exploited. An adversary who can query Unbound can exploit the vulnerability by attaching multiple NSID and/or DNS Cookie EDNS and/or EDNS Padding options to the query. A flaw in the size calculation of the EDNS field truncates the correct value which allows the encoder to overflow the available space when writing. Those two combined lead to a heap overflow write of Unbound controlled data and eventually a crash. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix to de-duplicate the EDNS options and a fix to prevent truncation of the EDNS field size calculation.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.8% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

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

Timeline

1. 2026-05-20 10:16 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-08-26 13:19 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Details

Published

2026-05-20 10:16 UTC

Last modified

2026-08-26 13:19 UTC

Exploit probability

0.8% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-197

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Nlnetlabs Unbound < 1.25.1

Attack profile CVSS 4.0 · 8.7

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Attack requirements

None

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High