Vulnerability in C-Ares
CVE-2026-69184
c-ares is an asynchronous resolver library. Prior to 1.34.7, ares_dns_name_parse() enforces backward DNS compression pointers but does not bound the total pointer hops or assembled name length. A malicious DNS server can send a response containing a long descending pointer chain and many resource records whose NAME or RDATA fields refer to the chain, causing repeated decompression work that grows quadratically with message size. A single crafted response can stall the single-threaded c-ares event loop and deny DNS resolution, without causing memory corruption or information disclosure. This issue is fixed in version 1.34.7.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Affected products
- C-ares — versions < 1.34.7
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_MISC)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-69184?
- CVE-2026-69184 is a high-severity vulnerability in C-Ares, classified under Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-09-18.
- How severe is CVE-2026-69184?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.