Description
In NLnetLabs Unbound 1.20.0 up to and including 1.26.0, a vulnerability on the 'serve-expired' code path can cause a double decrement on the 'wait-limit' counter per client IP essentially bypassing one of the counter measures that was introduced for DNSBomb (CVE-2024-33655). A malicious actor can exploit this by controlling an authoritative zone with short TTL, so cached entries expire quickly. Each 'slow' query, one the attacker's authoritative never answers, is followed by one query for an expired cached name, which is answered immediately via the 'serve-expired' path and decrements the counter twice. This second query was named 'pump'. By alternating slow queries and pumps, the attacker keeps the per-client counter at or below the configured 'wait-limit' indefinitely, and can hold an arbitrary number of pending queries from a single source IP, up to the global mesh quota (num-queries-per-thread); eventually bypassing one of the counter measures introduced for DNSBomb (CVE-2024-33655). This vulnerability is present on the 'serve-expired' code path.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| NLnet Labs | Unbound | 1.20.0 – < 1.26.1 | 1.26.1 |
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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | unbound | 1.26.1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | unbound | 1.26.1-0+deb13u1 | — |
| Debian 12 | unbound | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | unbound | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | unbound | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | unbound | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | unbound | No fix yet | — |
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | unbound | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | unbound | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | unbound | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | unbound | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | unbound +7 | 1.26.1-1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:68590 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP7 | unbound | 1.26.1-150600.23.24.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4620-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | unbound | 1.26.1-150600.23.24.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4620-1 |
| SLES 15 SP5 | unbound | 1.26.1-150100.10.31.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 |
| SLES 15 SP4 | unbound | 1.26.1-150100.10.31.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 |
Show 11 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | unbound | 1.26.1-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24226-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP6 | unbound | 1.26.1-150600.23.24.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4620-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP5 | unbound | 1.26.1-150100.10.31.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 SP4 | unbound | 1.26.1-150100.10.31.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | unbound | 1.26.1-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24226-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.2 | unbound | 1.26.1-160000.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24128-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.1 | unbound | 1.26.1-slfo.1.1_1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24376-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.0 | unbound | 1.26.1-159998.1.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:24135-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.5 | unbound | 1.26.1-150100.10.31.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 |
| SLE HPC 15 SP5 | unbound | 1.26.1-150100.10.31.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 |
| SLE HPC 15 SP4 | unbound | 1.26.1-150100.10.31.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | unbound | 1.26.1-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11930-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | unbound | 1.26.1-160000.1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:22082-1 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | unbound | 1.26.1-1 | — |
Advisories 10
- WID-SEC-2026-3392 Unbound: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 10, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:24376-1 Security update for unbound SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 27, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:24226-1 Security update for unbound SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 21, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:22082-1 Security update for unbound SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 19, 2026
- RHSA-2026:68590 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 17, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:24135-1 Security update for unbound SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 15, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:24128-1 Security update for unbound SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 13, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:4624-1 Security update for unbound SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 13, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:4620-1 Security update for unbound SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 13, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11930-1 libunbound8-1.26.1-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 30, 2026
References
- https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-77860.txt vendor-advisory