Out-of-bounds Read in Thekelleys Dnsmasq
CVE-2026-12969
An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in dnsmasq's find_soa() function in src/rfc1035.c. When parsing NS section records, extract_name() is called with extrabytes=0, failing to validate that 10 additional bytes exist for fixed-length DNS record fields. A remote attacker controlling a DNS zone can exploit this via a crafted NXDOMAIN response to cause a 10-byte heap out-of-bounds read, potentially accessing stale data from prior transactions.
Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.004 (31.6th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 32nd percentile — 31.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.004 · change: 0.000
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12969 (Mitigation, vdb-entry, Vendor Advisory)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (issue-tracking, Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-12969?
- CVE-2026-12969 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Thekelleys Dnsmasq, classified under Out-of-bounds Read. CVSS score: 5.3/10. Published 2026-06-23.
- How severe is CVE-2026-12969?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.3 out of 10.