GHSA-X324-PXWV-R76H
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-22 15:31 – Updated: 2026-07-22 15:31In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.13.2 up to and including 1.25.1, stub or forward zones where the name is below an intermediate labed below a DNSSEC signed zone could be shadowed by the intermediate label's secure NXDOMAIN answer from the parent. This is caused by an off-by-one error in 'harden-below-nxdomain' logic; enabled by default. It effectively bypasses the configuration and the configured stub/forward zone is never contacted. 'harden-below-nxdomain' does an upward DNS cache walk together with a delegation point guard that does not allow NXDOMAIN synthesis above stub/forward zones. The guard tests the domain name but before stripping a label. This results in an iteration where the domain name equals the configured stub/forward zone apex that passes the guard, strips one more label, and probes the cache at the apex's immediate public parent. If that parent has a cached DNSSEC-secure NXDOMAIN, which it will for any private namespace nested two or more labels under a signed public name, the walk returns it and the configured stub/forward upstream is never contacted. This can only be triggered by the query for the intermediate label (between the stub/forward apex and the DNSSEC parent zone).
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-44687"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-193"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-07-22T14:17:19Z",
"severity": "LOW"
},
"details": "In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.13.2 up to and including 1.25.1, stub or forward zones where the name is below an intermediate labed below a DNSSEC signed zone could be shadowed by the intermediate label\u0027s secure NXDOMAIN answer from the parent. This is caused by an off-by-one error in \u0027harden-below-nxdomain\u0027 logic; enabled by default. It effectively bypasses the configuration and the configured stub/forward zone is never contacted. \u0027harden-below-nxdomain\u0027 does an upward DNS cache walk together with a delegation point guard that does not allow NXDOMAIN synthesis above stub/forward zones. The guard tests the domain name but before stripping a label. This results in an iteration where the domain name equals the configured stub/forward zone apex that passes the guard, strips one more label, and probes the cache at the apex\u0027s immediate public parent. If that parent has a cached DNSSEC-secure NXDOMAIN, which it will for any private namespace nested two or more labels under a signed public name, the walk returns it and the configured stub/forward upstream is never contacted. This can only be triggered by the query for the intermediate label (between the stub/forward apex and the DNSSEC parent zone).",
"id": "GHSA-x324-pxwv-r76h",
"modified": "2026-07-22T15:31:24Z",
"published": "2026-07-22T15:31:24Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44687"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-44687.txt"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
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