In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0, a 255 length query name with a large TCP response can lead to a heap buffer overflow during the RRSet canonicalisation routine. This is caused by missing to add the first owner name into the buffer length check. A malicious actor operating a malicious name server or tampering with an incoming response to Unbound (canonicalisation happens before DNSSEC validation), can trigger the vulnerability.
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

This issue is fixed starting with version 1.26.1


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-120
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Important


Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0, a 255 length query name with a large TCP response can lead to a heap buffer overflow during the RRSet canonicalisation routine. This is caused by missing to add the first owner name into the buffer length check. A malicious actor operating a malicious name server or tampering with an incoming response to Unbound (canonicalisation happens before DNSSEC validation), can trigger the vulnerability.
Title Possible heap buffer overflow during DNSSEC canonicalization
Weaknesses CWE-122
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: NLnet Labs

Published:

Updated: 2026-09-16T08:30:15.428Z

Reserved: 2026-09-07T14:06:21.967Z

Link: CVE-2026-81634

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-09-16T09:17:06.210

Modified: 2026-09-16T09:17:06.210

Link: CVE-2026-81634

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2026-09-16T08:30:15Z

Links: CVE-2026-81634 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses