VulnerabilityPublished 31 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-24028: PowerDNS DNSdist · Buffer Over-read

Affects PowerDNS DNSdistSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 2.0.3 or 1.9.12 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

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

EPSS: 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 64% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.0.3, 1.9.12

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 31 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 30 Oct 2026.

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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity 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

Upgrade DNSdist and dnsdist to 2.0.3 or 1.9.12.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PowerDNSDNSdist	Affected >=2.0.0 <2.0.3	Fixed in 2.0.3
PowerDNSDNSdist	Affected >=1.9.0 <1.9.12	Fixed in 1.9.12
GitHubdnsdist`pkg:github/dnsdist`Other threats	Affected >=1.9.0 <1.9.12 >=2.0.0 <2.0.3	Fixed in 1.9.12 2.0.3

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-24028, organizations should first apply any available patches or updates from PowerDNS addressing this vulnerability once released. If you cannot patch yet, administrators should review and restrict the use of custom Lua scripts that utilize newDNSPacketOverlay, especially those parsing untrusted DNS responses. Network-level controls should be implemented to limit exposure to untrusted or potentially malicious DNS traffic, such as filtering DNS responses from unknown or suspicious sources. Deploying DNSdist behind trusted DNS resolvers or within controlled network segments can reduce risk. Monitoring DNSdist logs for crashes or unusual behavior can help detect exploitation attempts. Additionally, consider disabling or limiting Lua scripting capabilities if not essential, or applying strict input validation within Lua scripts to prevent out-of-bounds reads. Regular security assessments and code reviews of custom Lua scripts are recommended to identify and remediate unsafe parsing logic.

Description

An attacker might be able to trigger an out-of-bounds read by sending a crafted DNS response packet, when custom Lua code uses newDNSPacketOverlay to parse DNS packets. The out-of-bounds read might trigger a crash, leading to a denial of service, or access unrelated memory, leading to potential information disclosure.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-24028 is the potential for denial of service through DNSdist crashes, which can disrupt DNS resolution services relying on DNSdist as a load balancer or firewall. This disruption can affect availability of critical network services and applications dependent on DNS. Additionally, the out-of-bounds read may lead to information disclosure by exposing unrelated memory contents, which could include sensitive data such as cryptographic keys, configuration details, or user data, depending on the memory layout. Although the confidentiality impact is not confirmed, the possibility of leakage poses a risk to organizations handling sensitive DNS traffic. Since DNSdist is often deployed in front-line DNS infrastructure, exploitation could affect large-scale DNS operations, impacting enterprises, ISPs, and cloud providers. The vulnerability does not require authentication or user interaction, increasing the risk of remote exploitation by attackers who can send crafted DNS responses. However, the need for custom Lua code usage of newDNSPacketOverlay somewhat limits the attack surface to environments leveraging this feature.

CWE-126Buffer Over-read (opens in a new tab)
Variant weakness
The product reads from a buffer using buffer access mechanisms such as indexes or pointers that reference memory locations after the targeted buffer.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

dnsdist.org/security-advisories/powerdns-advisory-for-dnsdist-2026-02.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 31 Mar 2026, 12:39 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-126

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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