Description
An issue was discovered in adns before 1.5.2. It overruns reading a buffer if a domain ends with backslash. If the query domain ended with \, and adns_qf_quoteok_query was specified, qdparselabel would read additional bytes from the buffer and try to treat them as the escape sequence. It would depart the input buffer and start processing many bytes of arbitrary heap data as if it were the query domain. Eventually it would run out of input or find some other kind of error, and declare the query domain invalid. But before then it might outrun available memory and crash. In principle this could be a denial of service attack.
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