Vulnerability in Nlnet Labs Unbound
CVE-2026-54478
In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.18.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when Unbound listens on a 'proxy-protocol-port' interface with 'answer-cookie: yes', the RFC 9018 server-cookie SipHash is computed over the proxy's wire address instead of the PROXYv2-declared client. One server cookie obtained through a given proxy node therefore validates for every PROXYv2-declared source behind that node. On a UDP+proxy-protocol front, an off-path attacker can harvest one cookie with a single legitimate query, then replay it under any spoofed source and pass DNS Cookie checks that were deployed to defeat this in the first place.
EPSS: 0.002 (7.4th 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
- Nlnet Labs Unbound — versions 1.18.0
- Nlnetlabs Unbound
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- sep@nlnetlabs.nl (vendor-advisory, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-54478?
- CVE-2026-54478 is a low-severity vulnerability in Nlnet Labs Unbound, classified under Authentication Bypass by Spoofing. CVSS score: 3.7/10. Published 2026-07-22.
- How severe is CVE-2026-54478?
- Low severity. CVSS v3 base score is 3.7 out of 10.