VulnerabilityPublished 22 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-33258: 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, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 47% 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

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 22 Apr 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 29 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 Recursor and pdns-recursor to 5.4.1, 5.3.6 or 5.2.9.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PowerDNSRecursor	Affected >=5.4.0 <5.4.1	Fixed in 5.4.1
PowerDNSRecursor	Affected >=5.3.0 <5.3.6	Fixed in 5.3.6
PowerDNSRecursor	Affected >=5.2.0 <5.2.9	Fixed in 5.2.9
GitHubpdns-recursor`pkg:github/pdns-recursor`Other threats	Affected >=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

If you cannot patch yet, 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.

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.

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.

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).

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #25
The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.
Requirements
Clearly specify the minimum and maximum expectations for capabilities, and dictate which behaviors are acceptable when resource allocation reaches limits.
Architecture and Design
Limit the amount of resources that are accessible to unprivileged users. Set per-user limits for resources. Allow the system administrator to define these limits. Be careful to avoid CWE-410.
Architecture and Design
Design throttling mechanisms into the system architecture. The best protection is to limit the amount of resources that an unauthorized user can cause to be expended.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.1 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XML Ping of the Death (opens in a new tab)
Exponential Data Expansion (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data Parameter Blowup (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data with Nested Payloads (opens in a new tab)
Oversized Serialized Data Payloads (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

docs.powerdns.com/recursor/security-advisories/powerdns-advisory-powerdns-2026-03.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 29 Apr 2026, 11:10 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-770

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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