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VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2026-33256: PowerDNS Recursor · Unthrottled Resource Allocation

Affects PowerDNS RecursorSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium · fixed in 5.4.1 : update PowerDNS Recursor 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
0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 48% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 5.4.1, 5.3.6, 5.2.9
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 22 Apr 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 Recursor and pdns-recursor to 5.4.1, 5.3.6 or 5.2.9.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
PowerDNSRecursorAffected
  • >=5.4.0 <5.4.1
Fixed in
  • 5.4.1
PowerDNSRecursorAffected
  • >=5.3.0 <5.3.6
Fixed in
  • 5.3.6
PowerDNSRecursorAffected
  • >=5.2.0 <5.2.9
Fixed in
  • 5.2.9
GitHubpdns-recursorpkg:github/pdns-recursorOther threatsAffected
  • >=5.4.0 <5.4.1
  • >=5.3.0 <5.3.6
  • >=5.2.0 <5.2.9
Fixed in
  • 5.4.1
  • 5.3.6
  • 5.2.9

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

AI-suggested

Mitigation includes ensuring the internal web server feature is disabled if not needed, as it is disabled by default.

Description

CVE-2026-33256 is a medium severity vulnerability in PowerDNS Recursor versions 5.2.0, 5.3.0, and 5.4.0. It involves allocation of resources without limits or throttling in the internal web server, which is disabled by default. An attacker can send a web request that triggers unlimited memory allocation, potentially causing a denial of service.

References

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