CVE-2026-52863

5.9 MEDIUM 0.4% exploit odds Fix listed Memory safety Library

What it is

In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.25.0 up to and including 1.25.1, a fix that makes the 'respip' and 'dns64' modules work together, creates a shallow copy of the view name in effect that could lead to memory corruption if the owner of the original view name is jostled out when Unbound is under pressure. Unbound needs to be configured with one of 'respip'/'rpz' modules, together with a module that can attach subqueries (respip CNAME redirection, dns64, subnetcache) and a configured 'access-control-view' while Unbound is under pressure so that joslte logic kicks in and starts dropping slow queries. The subquery is getting a shallow copy of the view name and if the super query which owns the view name is jostled out, memory corruption can occur. Likelihood of a crash is low, since it relies heavily on the underlying memory allocator and the memory layout. Debug memory builds (e.g., ASAN) that catch the free terminate the server.

At a glance

Exploitability: Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of service disruption.
Exploit odds: 0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Fix: A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.