'serve-expired-client-timeout' and 'response-ip' CNAME redirect could lead to a crash

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-55717
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 1.10.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when 'serve-expired: yes' is set together with a 'response-ip: <net> redirect' /'response-ip-data: <net> CNAME <target>' 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.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.9 MEDIUM from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-476 | CWE-476 CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary5.9MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.1CNACVSS5.9MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA NLnet Labs Unbound affected 1.10.0 1.25.2 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-55717.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)

CNA: Xin Wang (Northwestern Polytechnical University) (en)

CNA: Jiapeng Li (Northwestern Polytechnical University) (en)

CNA: Jiajia Liu (Northwestern Polytechnical University) (en)

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
CNA2026-05-05T00:00:00.000ZIssue reported by Qifan Zhang
CNA2026-05-27T00:00:00.000ZIssue reported by Xin Wang
CNA2026-05-27T00:00:00.000ZNLnet Labs shares patch with Xin Wang
CNA2026-05-27T00:00:00.000ZXin Wang verifies patch
CNA2026-05-29T00:00:00.000ZNLnet Labs shares patch with Qifan Zhang
CNA2026-06-03T00:00:00.000ZQifan 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

© CVE.report 2026

Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are NO warranties, implied or otherwise, with regard to this information or its use. Any use of this information is at the user's risk. It is the responsibility of user to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content. EACH USER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY consequences of his or her direct or indirect use of this web site. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. This site will NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT or any other kind of loss.

CVE, CWE, and OVAL are registred trademarks of The MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. This site includes MITRE data granted under the following license.

Free CVE JSON API cve.report/api

CVE.report and Source URL Uptime Status status.cve.report