Description
An issue was discovered in adns before 1.5.2. adns_rr_info mishandles a bogus *datap. The general pattern for formatting integers is to sprintf into a fixed-size buffer. This is correct if the input is in the right range; if it isn't, the buffer may be overrun (depending on the sizes of the types on the current platform). Of course the inputs ought to be right. And there are pointers in there too, so perhaps one could say that the caller ought to check these things. It may be better to require the caller to make the pointer structure right, but to have the code here be defensive about (and tolerate with an error but without crashing) out-of-range integer values. So: it should defend each of these integer conversion sites with a check for the actual permitted range, and return adns_s_invaliddata if not. The lack of this check causes the SOA sign extension bug to be a serious security problem: the sign extended SOA value is out of range, and overruns the buffer when reconverted. This is related to sign extending SOA 32-bit integer fields, and use of a signed data type.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | adns | 1.6.0-2 | — |
| Debian 13 | adns | 1.6.0-2 | — |
| Debian 12 | adns | 1.6.0-2 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | adns | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | adns | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | adns | No fix yet | — |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 12 SP5 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SLES 12 SP4 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SLES 12 SP3 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SLES 12 SP2 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SLES 11 SP4 | adns | 1.4-75.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:14399-1 |
Show 10 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 12 SP5 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP4 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP3 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP2 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 8 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3 | adns | 1.4-75.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:14399-1 |
| SUSE HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 5 | adns | 1.4-103.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Leap 15.1 | adns | 1.5.1-lp151.3.3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2020:0827-1 |
Advisories 3
- SUSE-SU-2020:14399-1 Security update for adns SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2020:0827-1 Security update for adns SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:1612-1 Security update for adns SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~ianmdlvl/git?p=adns.git
- https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/pipermail/adns-announce/2020/000004.html
- http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~ianmdlvl/git?p=adns.git%3Ba=blob%3Bf=changelog
- FEDORA-2020-530188bf36 vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2020-e59bcaf702 vendor-advisory