CVE-2026-69186
c-ares: Memory-amplification denial of service via unvalidated DNS header record counts
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 5.3 Medium
- Published
- Sep 18, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 18, 2026
- Reserved
- Aug 3, 2026
Description
c-ares is an asynchronous resolver library. Prior to 1.34.7, ares_dns_parse() trusts the attacker-controlled ANCOUNT, NSCOUNT, and ARCOUNT fields before confirming that the DNS response contains enough bytes for the claimed records. Because process_answer() invokes parsing before transaction ID and question validation, a malicious DNS response can cause ares_dns_record_rr_prealloc() and ares_array_set_size() to reserve disproportionate heap memory for a tiny message. Repeated responses create large allocation and release cycles that can degrade or deny name resolution, without causing memory corruption or information disclosure. This issue is fixed in version 1.34.7.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 5.3 Medium | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L | GitHub_M |
Weaknesses
- CWE-400 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
c-aresc-ares |
|
References
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/security/advisories/GHSA-jv8r-gqr9-68wj
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/pull/1134
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/commit/e47c203f91cd8b749c8736bc18d75a31ffdec8f4
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/commit/eaded4cb200b2a5f8d73f11021ff7c8d6968aaab
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/releases/tag/v1.34.7
Every record here comes from the CVE Program’s CVE List. © 1999–2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. The records are reproduced under the CVE Program terms of use.