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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-27854: PowerDNS DNSdist · Use After Free

Affects PowerDNS DNSdistSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.8 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
4.8Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 42% 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:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 31 Mar 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Upgrade DNSdist and dnsdist to 2.0.3 or 1.9.12.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
PowerDNSDNSdistAffected
  • >=2.0.0 <2.0.3
Fixed in
  • 2.0.3
PowerDNSDNSdistAffected
  • >=1.9.0 <1.9.12
Fixed in
  • 1.9.12
GitHubdnsdistpkg:github/dnsdistOther threatsAffected
  • >=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

If you cannot patch yet, avoid using custom Lua code that calls DNSQuestion:getEDNSOptions with untrusted input.

Description

An attacker might be able to trigger a use-after-free by sending crafted DNS queries to a DNSdist using the DNSQuestion:getEDNSOptions method in custom Lua code. In some cases DNSQuestion:getEDNSOptions might refer to a version of the DNS packet that has been modified, thus triggering a use-after-free and potentially a crash resulting in denial of service.

References

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