CVE-2024-0874 identifies a vulnerability in CoreDNS, a widely used DNS server implementation, where the caching mechanism is incorrectly implemented. This flaw causes the DNS cache to potentially return invalid or stale entries, which can lead to incorrect DNS resolution results. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of cache entries, allowing outdated or incorrect data to be served to clients. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.3, reflecting a medium severity level, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), no confidentiality impact (C:N), integrity impact (I:L), and no availability impact (A:N). The integrity impact indicates that the DNS responses may be manipulated or corrupted, potentially causing clients to receive wrong IP addresses or fail to resolve domain names correctly. Although no exploits have been reported in the wild, the vulnerability could be leveraged by attackers to disrupt DNS resolution or redirect traffic, which may facilitate further attacks such as phishing or man-in-the-middle. CoreDNS is commonly deployed in cloud-native environments, Kubernetes clusters, and enterprise DNS infrastructures, making this vulnerability relevant to organizations using these technologies. The lack of available patches at the time of publication suggests that organizations should monitor vendor advisories closely. The vulnerability does not require authentication or user interaction, increasing the risk of exploitation in exposed environments.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-0874 primarily involves the integrity of DNS resolution services. Incorrect DNS cache entries can lead to misrouting of network traffic, service disruptions, or exposure to secondary attacks such as phishing or traffic interception. Organizations relying on CoreDNS for internal DNS resolution in Kubernetes clusters or cloud environments may experience degraded service reliability or operational issues. While confidentiality is not directly impacted, the integrity compromise can indirectly facilitate data interception or unauthorized access if attackers redirect traffic to malicious endpoints. The absence of availability impact means systems remain operational but potentially unreliable. Critical infrastructure providers, financial institutions, and large enterprises with complex DNS setups are particularly at risk due to their reliance on accurate DNS responses. The medium severity rating suggests that while the threat is not immediately critical, it warrants prompt attention to prevent escalation or exploitation in targeted attacks.

1. Monitor CoreDNS vendor channels and security advisories for official patches addressing CVE-2024-0874 and apply them promptly once available. 2. Review and tighten DNS cache configuration settings to minimize the retention of stale or invalid entries, including reducing cache TTL values where feasible. 3. Implement DNS response validation and monitoring tools to detect anomalies or unexpected DNS responses that may indicate exploitation attempts. 4. Employ network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of CoreDNS instances to untrusted networks, reducing the attack surface. 5. Use DNSSEC where possible to add cryptographic validation of DNS responses, mitigating risks from manipulated DNS data. 6. Conduct regular audits of DNS infrastructure and logs to identify irregularities potentially caused by this vulnerability. 7. For Kubernetes environments, ensure CoreDNS deployments are updated and configured according to best practices, including restricting external access. 8. Educate IT and security teams about the nature of the vulnerability and the importance of DNS integrity monitoring.