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Review reviewHigh

CVE-2026-40691

NLnet Labs Unbound, unbound

In Unbound 1.9.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when a DNSCrypt query is received over TCP, the routine that encrypts the reply in place fails to bound the reply length against the destination buffer size. The size clamp that protects the UDP path is not applied on the TCP path, so a reply larger than 65504 bytes is shifted forward by 48 bytes inside a buffer of capacity equal to 'msg-buffer-size', writing past the end of the heap allocation. A single malicious encrypted query crashes the resolver and lead to denial of service. This vulnerability needs Unbound to be compiled with DNSCrypt supp...

CVSS
7.5
EPSS
0.29%
21.6% percentile
CISA KEV
Not listed
Published
2026.07.22
PRIORITY ASSESSMENT

Review review

The CVSS severity warrants an early asset and exposure review.

Known exploitationNot established by KEV
Exploit probability0.29%
Technical severityCVSS 7.5

Vulnerability overview

In Unbound 1.9.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when a DNSCrypt query is received over TCP, the routine that encrypts the reply in place fails to bound the reply length against the destination buffer size. The size clamp that protects the UDP path is not applied on the TCP path, so a reply larger than 65504 bytes is shifted forward by 48 bytes inside a buffer of capacity equal to 'msg-buffer-size', writing past the end of the heap allocation. A single malicious encrypted query crashes the resolver and lead to denial of service. This vulnerability needs Unbound to be compiled with DNSCrypt supp...

Affected product and versions

Product
NLnet Labs Unbound, unbound
Affected versions
>= 1.9.0 < 1.25.2
Fixed versions
1.25.2

Recommended response sequence

Confirm exposure before applying a vendor-supported change.

Full remediation guide
  1. 1
    Identify

    Confirm that NLnet Labs Unbound, unbound and an affected version are present.

  2. 2
    Prioritize

    Combine exploitation signals with asset exposure and business criticality.

  3. 3
    Remediate

    Follow the vendor advisory or supported update path and preserve rollback options.

  4. 4
    Verify

    Recheck the version, service health, access paths, and relevant logs.

Technical data

CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE
CWE-122, CWE-787