Review reviewHigh

CVE-2026-55973

NLnet Labs Unbound, unbound

In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.23.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when 'dns-error-reporting: yes' is set, the EDNS Report-Channel option (code 18) from the last upstream response is read and uses the option's length as the length of the agent domain. When a domain name check is performed on the agent domain, the returned lenght is not used and if the agent domain is followed by garbage, those bytes are moved onto the tail of the synthetic '_er.' report query name. That query name is later used in the iterator via a subquery to send out the DNS Error Report and when Unbound tries to walk that query n...

CVSS: 7.5
EPSS: -
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 probability-

Technical severityCVSS 7.5

Vulnerability overview

Affected product and versions

Product: NLnet Labs Unbound, unbound
Affected versions: >= 1.23.0 < 1.25.2
Fixed versions: 1.25.2

Recommended response sequence

Confirm exposure before applying a vendor-supported change.

Full remediation guide

1
Identify
Confirm that NLnet Labs Unbound, unbound and an affected version are present.
2
Prioritize
Combine exploitation signals with asset exposure and business criticality.
3
Remediate
Follow the vendor advisory or supported update path and preserve rollback options.
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-20