CVE-2025-59029VulnerabilityPublished 9 Dec 2025

CVE-2025-59029: PowerDNS Recursor · Reachable Assertion

Affects PowerDNS RecursorSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 31% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 9 Dec 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PowerDNS Recursor	Affected =5.3.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

1. Monitor PowerDNS official channels for patches or updates addressing CVE-2025-59029 and apply them promptly once available. 2. If immediate patching is not possible, consider deploying network-level protections such as rate limiting or filtering DNS queries with qtype ANY from untrusted sources to reduce the attack surface. 3. Implement DNS query logging and anomaly detection to identify unusual patterns indicative of exploitation attempts involving crafted records or ANY queries. 4. Use DNS firewalling or response policy zones (RPZ) to block or redirect suspicious queries. 5. Deploy redundant DNS resolvers with diverse software stacks to ensure continuity if one resolver is affected. 6. Regularly audit and update DNS infrastructure configurations to minimize exposure. 7. Educate network operations teams on this vulnerability to enable rapid response to potential incidents. 8. Consider isolating recursive DNS resolvers from direct internet exposure where feasible, restricting access to trusted clients only.

Description

An attacker can trigger an assertion failure by requesting crafted DNS records, waiting for them to be inserted into the records cache, then send a query with qtype set to ANY.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2025-59029 is the potential for denial of service against DNS infrastructure relying on PowerDNS Recursor 5.3.0. DNS is a critical service for network operations, and disruption can lead to loss of access to internal and external resources, impacting business continuity and user productivity. Organizations operating public-facing DNS resolvers or internal recursive resolvers using the affected version are at risk of service outages. This can affect ISPs, hosting providers, enterprises, and government agencies. Given the medium severity and lack of confidentiality or integrity impact, the threat is mainly operational. However, DNS outages can cascade into broader service disruptions, affecting web services, email, and other dependent applications. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially if attackers develop exploit code. European entities with critical infrastructure or high dependency on DNS services should prioritize mitigation to maintain service availability.

CWE-617Reachable Assertion (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary.
Implementation
Make sensitive open/close operation non reachable by directly user-controlled data (e.g. open/close resources)
Implementation · Input Validation
Perform input validation on user data.
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

docs.powerdns.com/recursor/security-advisories/powerdns-advisory-2025-07.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 16 Dec 2025, 10:35 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-617

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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