DNS Cookie bypass when combined with proxy-protocol use

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-54478
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerNLnet Labs
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-22 14:17:21 UTC
Updated2026-07-22 20:33:11 UTC
DescriptionIn NLnet Labs Unbound 1.18.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when Unbound listens on a 'proxy-protocol-port' interface with 'answer-cookie: yes', the RFC 9018 server-cookie SipHash is computed over the proxy's wire address instead of the PROXYv2-declared client. One server cookie obtained through a given proxy node therefore validates for every PROXYv2-declared source behind that node. On a UDP+proxy-protocol front, an off-path attacker can harvest one cookie with a single legitimate query, then replay it under any spoofed source and pass DNS Cookie checks that were deployed to defeat this in the first place.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 3.7 LOW from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-290 | CWE-290 CWE-290: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary3.7LOWCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
3.1CNACVSS3.7LOWCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA NLnet Labs Unbound affected 1.18.0 1.25.2 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-54478.txt [email protected] www.nlnetlabs.nl
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: Qifan Zhang (Palo Alto Networks) (en)

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
CNA2026-05-04T00:00:00.000ZIssue reported by Qifan Zhang
CNA2026-05-29T00:00:00.000ZNLnet Labs shares patch
CNA2026-05-30T00:00:00.000ZQifan Zhang verifies patch
CNA2026-07-22T00:00:00.000ZFixes released with version 1.25.2

Solutions

CNA: This issue is fixed starting with version 1.25.2

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