5.9
MEDIUM CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-52863
Memory corruption could lead to crash and denial of service
Description

In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.25.0 up to and including 1.25.1, a fix that makes the 'respip' and 'dns64' modules work together, creates a shallow copy of the view name in effect that could lead to memory corruption if the owner of the original view name is jostled out when Unbound is under pressure. Unbound needs to be configured with one of 'respip'/'rpz' modules, together with a module that can attach subqueries (respip CNAME redirection, dns64, subnetcache) and a configured 'access-control-view' while Unbound is under pressure so that joslte logic kicks in and starts dropping slow queries. The subquery is getting a shallow copy of the view name and if the super query which owns the view name is jostled out, memory corruption can occur. Likelihood of a crash is low, since it relies heavily on the underlying memory allocator and the memory layout. Debug memory builds (e.g., ASAN) that catch the free terminate the server.

INFO

Published Date :

July 22, 2026, 2:17 p.m.

Last Modified :

July 22, 2026, 2:17 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

No
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-52863 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Nlnetlabs unbound
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 MEDIUM 206fc3a0-e175-490b-9eaa-a5738056c9f6
CVSS 3.1 MEDIUM [email protected]
Solution
Update Unbound to a version that resolves the memory corruption vulnerability.
  • Update Unbound to the latest available version.
  • Apply configuration changes as recommended by the vendor.
  • Test the application thoroughly after updating.
  • Monitor system stability.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to CVE-2026-52863.

URL Resource
https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-52863.txt
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-52863 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-52863 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-52863 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-52863 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Jul. 22, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Affected [{'vendor': 'NLnet Labs', 'product': 'Unbound', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '1.25.0', 'lessThan': '1.25.2', 'versionType': 'semver'}], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}]
    Added Description In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.25.0 up to and including 1.25.1, a fix that makes the 'respip' and 'dns64' modules work together, creates a shallow copy of the view name in effect that could lead to memory corruption if the owner of the original view name is jostled out when Unbound is under pressure. Unbound needs to be configured with one of 'respip'/'rpz' modules, together with a module that can attach subqueries (respip CNAME redirection, dns64, subnetcache) and a configured 'access-control-view' while Unbound is under pressure so that joslte logic kicks in and starts dropping slow queries. The subquery is getting a shallow copy of the view name and if the super query which owns the view name is jostled out, memory corruption can occur. Likelihood of a crash is low, since it relies heavily on the underlying memory allocator and the memory layout. Debug memory builds (e.g., ASAN) that catch the free terminate the server.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-416
    Added Reference https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-52863.txt
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.