Skip to main content
VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2026-40622: NLnet Labs Unbound · CWE-346

Affects NLnet Labs UnboundSource CVE Database V5

0
Compare

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.6 Medium : upgrade to 1.25.1 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
6.6Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 1.25.1
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 20 May 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 29 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade NLnet Labs Unbound to 1.25.1.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
NLnet LabsUnboundAffected
  • >=1.16.2 <1.25.1
Fixed in
  • 1.25.1

AI-suggested

Upgrade Unbound to version 1.25.1 or later, which contains a patch preventing TTL extension for parent NS records. Since the vendor advisory indicates the fix is included in 1.25.1, applying this official update is the recommended remediation. Patch status is confirmed by the vendor advisory. No alternative mitigations are indicated.

Description

NLnet Labs Unbound 1.16.2 up to and including version 1.25.0 has a vulnerability of the 'ghost domain names' family of attacks that could extend the ghost domain window by up to one cached TTL configured value. Similar to other 'ghost domain names' attacks, an adversary needs to control a (ghost) zone and be able to query a vulnerable Unbound. A single client NS query can cause Unbound to overwrite the cached expired parent-side referral NS rrset with the child-side apex NS rrset and essentially extend the ghost domain window by up to one cached TTL configured value ('cache-max-ttl'). In configurations where 'harden-referral-path: yes' is used (non-default configuration), no client NS query is required since Unbound implicitly performs that query. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix that does not allow extension of TTLs for (parent) NS records regardless of their trust.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…