Vulnerability in NLnet Labs Unbound (CVE-2026-55717)
Summary
Vulnerability in NLnet Labs Unbound (CVE-2026-55717). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.10.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when 'serve-expired: yes' is set together with a 'response-ip: redirect' /'response-ip-data: CNAME ' rule (or the RPZ 'rpz-cname-override' equivalent), a remote client who controls any delegated domain can crash the daemon. The serve-expired-client-timeout callback runs a two-pass loop to chase the respip-generated CNAME alias; on the second pass it resets 'alias_rrset' but not 'partial_rep'. Later, this inconsistency leads to a NULL pointer dereference and an eventual crash. A malicious actor can exploit the vulnerability by controlling any zone that replies with an A/AAAA record that falls inside the configured response-ip/rpz subnet. By delaying the answer when the previous record has expired, the vulnerable path of 'serve-expired-client-timeout' is taken leading to denial of service via the server crash.
Source: GitHub Security Advisories (Global) NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-55717 has been found in NLnet Labs Unbound.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. CVSS score: 5.9/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "NLnet Labs Unbound CVE-2026-55717" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-55717 (NLnet Labs Unbound) — CWE-476 / CVSS v3 5.9
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-476) exists in NLnet Labs Unbound.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of NLnet Labs Unbound.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.9/10). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで NLnet Labs Unbound を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
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2Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Alpine Linux ALPINE-CVE-2026-55717 unbound Fixed in: 1.25.2-r0
References
- patch sep@nlnetlabs.nl
- web nvd.nist.gov
- web github.com