Excessive NSEC3 iterations cause high CPU load during insecure delegation validation

Summary

CVECVE-2026-1519
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerisc
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-03-25 14:16:33 UTC
Updated2026-04-13 10:16:11 UTC
DescriptionIf a BIND resolver is performing DNSSEC validation and encounters a maliciously crafted zone, the resolver may consume excessive CPU. Authoritative-only servers are generally unaffected, although there are circumstances where authoritative servers may make recursive queries (see: https://kb.isc.org/docs/why-does-my-authoritative-server-make-recursive-queries). This issue affects BIND 9 versions 9.11.0 through 9.16.50, 9.18.0 through 9.18.46, 9.20.0 through 9.20.20, 9.21.0 through 9.21.19, 9.11.3-S1 through 9.16.50-S1, 9.18.11-S1 through 9.18.46-S1, and 9.20.9-S1 through 9.20.20-S1.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.5 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS: 0.000680000 probability, percentile 0.208600000 (date 2026-04-15)

Problem Types: CWE-606 | CWE-606 CWE-606 Unchecked Input for Loop Condition


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA ISC BIND 9 affected 9.11.0 9.16.50 custom Not specified
CNA ISC BIND 9 affected 9.18.0 9.18.46 custom Not specified
CNA ISC BIND 9 affected 9.20.0 9.20.20 custom Not specified
CNA ISC BIND 9 affected 9.21.0 9.21.19 custom Not specified
CNA ISC BIND 9 affected 9.11.3-S1 9.16.50-S1 custom Not specified
CNA ISC BIND 9 affected 9.18.11-S1 9.18.46-S1 custom Not specified
CNA ISC BIND 9 affected 9.20.9-S1 9.20.20-S1 custom Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
downloads.isc.org/isc/bind9/9.20.21 [email protected] downloads.isc.org
downloads.isc.org/isc/bind9/9.21.20 [email protected] downloads.isc.org
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/04/msg00008.html af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org
kb.isc.org/docs/cve-2026-1519 [email protected] kb.isc.org
downloads.isc.org/isc/bind9/9.18.47 [email protected] downloads.isc.org
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: ISC would like to thank Samy Medjahed/Ap4sh for bringing this vulnerability to our attention. (en)

Additional Advisory Data

Solutions

CNA: Upgrade to the patched release most closely related to your current version of BIND 9: 9.18.47, 9.20.21, 9.21.20, 9.18.47-S1, or 9.20.21-S1.

Workarounds

CNA: This is not recommended, but disabling DNSSEC (`dnssec-validation no;`) prevents exploitation of this issue.

Exploits

CNA: We are not aware of any active exploits.

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