CVE-2026-85501 (GCVE-0-2026-85501)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-09-16 08:32 – Updated: 2026-09-16 14:12
VLAI
Title
Retrap: Novel Vulnerabilities to launch Algorithmic Complexity Attacks on DNSSEC
Summary
Novel vulnerabilities to launch algorithmic complexity attacks on DNSSEC have been researched under the term 'ReTrap'. These result in degradation of service when malicious zones are used to serve the algorithmic complexity vulnerabilities. NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0 is vulnerable to some of them. TagTrap, where the triple(Zone, Algo, KeyTag) matching mechanism introduces a significant attack vector when resolvers handle malicious responses containing numerous mismatched DNSKEY, RRSIG, and DS record. DelegationTrap, where constructing the chain-of-trust requires iterative validation of DNSKEY and DS records from the root zone downward. For deeply nested domains, this results in significant computational overhead. NsecTrap, where responses with excessive invalid NSEC records compel the resolver to validate each one. AdditionalTrap, where Unbound by default would try to DNSSEC validate the ADDITIONAL section as well. This can be exploited to waste validation resources by malicious users.
Severity
5.3 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
SSVC
Exploitation: none Automatable: yes Technical Impact: partial
CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)
Decision recorded 2026-09-16 14:10 UTC
CWE
  • CWE-770 - Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Assigner
NLnet Labs CNA
CNA scorecard B 82/100 over 76 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
NLnet Labs Unbound Affected: 0 , < 1.26.1 (semver)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Date Public
2026-09-16 00:00
Credits
Zuyao Xu (Nankai University, AOSP Lab) Xiang Li (Nankai University, AOSP Lab) Qifan Zhang (Palo Alto Networks)
Show details on NVD website
To clipboard 

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