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OpenAdvisories
Critical · 9.1 CVE-2026-33278 EUVD-2026-31075GHSA-m234-r435-cxjw

Possible arbitrary code execution during DNSSEC validation

Published May 20, 2026 · Updated Sep 1, 2026 · Assigned by NLnet Labs

Description

NLnet Labs Unbound 1.19.1 up to and including version 1.25.0 has a vulnerability in the DNSSEC validator that enables denial of service and possible remote code execution as a result of deep copying a data structure and erroneously overwriting a destination pointer. An adversary can exploit the vulnerability by controlling a malicious signed zone and querying a vulnerable Unbound. When DS sub-queries need to suspend validation due to NSEC3 computational budget exhaustion (introduced in Unbound 1.19.1), Unbound deep-copies response messages to preserve them across memory region teardown. A struct-assignment bug overwrites the destination's pointer with the source's pointer. After the sub-query region is freed, the resumed validator dereferences this dangling pointer, triggering a crash or potentially enabling arbitrary code execution. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix to preserve the correct pointer when deep copying the data structure.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
NLnet Labs Unbound 1.19.1 – < 1.25.1 1.25.1

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 unbound 1.25.1-1 —
Debian 13 unbound 1.22.0-2+deb13u3 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS unbound 1.24.2-1ubuntu2.1 —
Ubuntu 25.10 unbound 1.22.0-2ubuntu2.3 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS unbound 1.19.2-1ubuntu3.8 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
RHEL 10 unbound +6 1.24.2-7.el10_2.1 RHSA-2026:23231
RHEL 9 unbound +4 1.24.2-3.el9_8.1 RHSA-2026:24369
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Red Hat Hardened Images 1 unbound +7 1.25.1-0.1.hum1 RHSA-2026:19752

AlmaLinux

Errata ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux 10 unbound +6 1.24.2-7.el10_2.1 ALSA-2026:23231
AlmaLinux 9 unbound +4 1.24.2-3.el9_8.1 ALSA-2026:24369

Rocky Linux

Errata ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Rocky Linux 10 unbound 1.24.2-7.el10_2.1 RLSA-2026:23231
Rocky Linux 9 unbound 1.24.2-3.el9_8.1 RLSA-2026:24369
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP5 unbound 1.20.0-150100.10.25.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2369-1
SLES 15 SP4 unbound 1.20.0-150100.10.25.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2369-1
Show 8 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 unbound 1.24.1-160000.2.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22160-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP5 unbound 1.20.0-150100.10.25.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2369-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP4 unbound 1.20.0-150100.10.25.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2369-1
SLES 16.0 unbound 1.24.1-160000.2.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22160-1
SLE Micro 6.2 unbound 1.24.1-160000.2.1 SUSE-SU-2026:22213-1
SLE Micro 5.5 unbound 1.20.0-150100.10.25.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2369-1
SLE HPC 15 SP5 unbound 1.20.0-150100.10.25.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2369-1
SLE HPC 15 SP4 unbound 1.20.0-150100.10.25.1 SUSE-SU-2026:2369-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed unbound 1.25.1-1.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:10903-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 unbound 1.24.1-160000.2.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:21083-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Alpine v3.24 unbound 1.25.1-r0 —
Alpine v3.23 unbound 1.25.2-r0 —
Alpine v3.22 unbound 1.25.2-r0 —

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 unbound +5 1.17.1-1.amzn2023.0.12 ALAS2023-2026-1756
Amazon Linux 2 unbound +4 1.7.3-15.amzn2.0.14 ALAS2-2026-3322

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 unbound 1.25.1-1 —

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 10 unbound +6 1.24.2-7.el10_2.2 ELSA-2026-23231
Oracle Linux 9 unbound +4 1.24.2-3.el9_8.1 ELSA-2026-24369

Advisories 18

References