CVE-2026-55717
'serve-expired-client-timeout' and 'response-ip' CNAME redirect could lead to a crash
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 5.9 Medium
- Published
- Jul 22, 2026
- Updated
- Jul 22, 2026
- Reserved
- Jun 22, 2026
Description
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: <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.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 5.9 Medium | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H | NLnet Labs |
Weaknesses
- CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
UnboundNLnet Labs |
|
References
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