Vulnerability in Nlnet Labs Unbound

CVE-2026-50243

In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.6.2 up to and including 1.25.1, when Unbound is configured with the 'respip' module in front of the validator together with a 'response-ip' redirect rule or an RPZ file with an RPZ-IP trigger, the rewriting handler does not check the security status of the upstream answer and can instead rewrite a BOGUS A/AAAA answer to point to an operator's configured IP. If the validator finds an expired or otherwise invalid RRSIG on an answer whose A record falls within a 'response-ip'/RPZ configuration, the answer is still rewritten and given a hard coded security level of INSECURE. This results in the client receiving an INSECURE NOERROR reply rewritten by the operator's configured IP. A malicious actor can exploit the possible poisonous effect by spoofing a BOGUS A/AAAA answer that falls inside the operator's configured subnet rewrites. Such DNSSEC protected answers are then insecurely redirected to the operator's configured target.

EPSS: 0.001 (1.1th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 3.7 (Low). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-50243?
CVE-2026-50243 is a low-severity vulnerability in Nlnet Labs Unbound, classified under CWE-348. CVSS score: 3.7/10. Published 2026-07-22.
How severe is CVE-2026-50243?
Low severity. CVSS v3 base score is 3.7 out of 10.