CVE-2026-33278

CVE Details

Release Date:	2026-05-20
Impact:	Important	What is this?

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.

See more information about CVE-2026-33278 from MITRE CVE dictionary and NIST NVD

NOTE: The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.

CVSS v3 metrics

Base Score:	8.1
Vector String:	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Version:	3.1
Attack Vector:	Network
Attack Complexity:	High
Privileges Required:	None
User Interaction:	None
Scope:	Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact:	High
Integrity Impact:	High
Availability Impact:	High

Errata information

Platform	Errata	Release Date
Oracle Linux version 9 (unbound)	ELSA-2026-24369	2026-06-23