Buffer overflow in Nlnet Labs Unbound

CVE-2026-81634

In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0, a 255 length query name with a large TCP response can lead to a heap buffer overflow during the RRSet canonicalisation routine. This is caused by missing to add the first owner name into the buffer length check. A malicious actor operating a malicious name server or tampering with an incoming response to Unbound (canonicalisation happens before DNSSEC validation), can trigger the vulnerability.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published · last modified .

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.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (41.4th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 41st percentile — 41.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-81634: held from 0.005 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-81634?
CVE-2026-81634 is a high-severity vulnerability in Nlnet Labs Unbound, classified under Heap-based Buffer Overflow. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-09-16.
How severe is CVE-2026-81634?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.