CVE-2026-33258: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in PowerDNS Recursor
CVE-2026-33258 is a medium severity vulnerability in PowerDNS Recursor versions 5. 2. 0, 5. 3. 0, and 5. 4. 0. It allows an attacker to cause excessive allocation of resources in the negative and aggressive NSEC(3) caches by publishing and querying a specially crafted DNS zone. This can lead to resource exhaustion and potential denial of service conditions. There is no confirmed patch or official remediation available at this time.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability involves allocation of resources without limits or throttling in PowerDNS Recursor's handling of negative and aggressive NSEC(3) caches. An attacker can exploit this by publishing and querying a crafted DNS zone, causing the software to allocate large cache entries. The affected versions are 5.2.0, 5.3.0, and 5.4.0. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3 (medium severity), reflecting a network attack vector with no privileges or user interaction required, and impact limited to availability (resource exhaustion). No known exploits are reported in the wild, and no vendor advisory or patch information is currently available.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation results in allocation of large cache entries that can exhaust system resources, potentially causing denial of service by degrading or interrupting the DNS resolution service. There is no impact to confidentiality or integrity according to the CVSS vector.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, consider monitoring resource usage on affected PowerDNS Recursor instances and applying any available configuration limits or rate limiting to DNS queries if feasible. Avoid exposure of vulnerable versions to untrusted networks where possible.
CVE-2026-33258: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in PowerDNS Recursor
Description
CVE-2026-33258 is a medium severity vulnerability in PowerDNS Recursor versions 5. 2. 0, 5. 3. 0, and 5. 4. 0. It allows an attacker to cause excessive allocation of resources in the negative and aggressive NSEC(3) caches by publishing and querying a specially crafted DNS zone. This can lead to resource exhaustion and potential denial of service conditions. There is no confirmed patch or official remediation available at this time.
CVSS v3.1
Score 5.3medium
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability involves allocation of resources without limits or throttling in PowerDNS Recursor's handling of negative and aggressive NSEC(3) caches. An attacker can exploit this by publishing and querying a crafted DNS zone, causing the software to allocate large cache entries. The affected versions are 5.2.0, 5.3.0, and 5.4.0. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 5.3 (medium severity), reflecting a network attack vector with no privileges or user interaction required, and impact limited to availability (resource exhaustion). No known exploits are reported in the wild, and no vendor advisory or patch information is currently available.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation results in allocation of large cache entries that can exhaust system resources, potentially causing denial of service by degrading or interrupting the DNS resolution service. There is no impact to confidentiality or integrity according to the CVSS vector.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, consider monitoring resource usage on affected PowerDNS Recursor instances and applying any available configuration limits or rate limiting to DNS queries if feasible. Avoid exposure of vulnerable versions to untrusted networks where possible.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- OX
- Date Reserved
- 2026-03-18T10:06:16.572Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 69e89fe619fe3cd2cd8f5f46
Added to database: 4/22/2026, 10:16:06 AM
Last enriched: 4/29/2026, 11:10:35 AM
Last updated: 6/6/2026, 11:07:19 PM
Views: 51
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