VulnerabilityPublished 3 Sep 2026Updated 12 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-123580: Hickory net · NSEC3 records from another zone were accepted in proofs of nonexistence

Affects hickory-netSource GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-123580· High 8.7

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.7 High : upgrade to 0.26.2 soon.

Data as of 12 Nov 2026, 15:35 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

8.7High

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

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CNA (VulnCheck)	CVSS 4.0	8.7
CNA (VulnCheck)	CVSS 3.1	7.5

Patch: Available – fixed in 0.26.2

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: High
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, 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: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the vulnerable system. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Nov 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 12 Nov 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 hickory-net to 0.26.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
crates.iohickory-net`pkg:cargo/hickory-net`Other threats	Affected >=0.0.0-0 <0.26.2	Fixed in 0.26.2

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

AI-suggested

A fix is available in Hickory net version 0.26.2. Users should upgrade to version 0.26.2 or later to ensure that NSEC3 records are properly validated against the correct DNS zone. No additional mitigations are specified or required beyond applying this official fix.

Description

A vulnerability in Hickory net's DNSSEC validation allows acceptance of NSEC3 records from unrelated zones during proofs of nonexistence. This occurs because only the hashed first label of the NSEC3 owner name was compared, ignoring the zone context. An attacker controlling any DNSSEC-signed zone can exploit this to mislead validators about the nonexistence of names in other zones. The issue affects versions before 0.26.2 and is fixed in version 0.26.2.

Impact

This vulnerability allows an attacker with control over any DNSSEC-signed zone and the ability to modify DNS responses to cause DNSSEC validators using Hickory net to incorrectly conclude that certain DNS names in other zones do not exist. This can lead to denial of existence proofs being forged, potentially disrupting DNS resolution or enabling further attacks relying on DNS manipulation. The CVSS 3.1 score is 7.5 (High), indicating a significant impact on integrity without affecting confidentiality or availability.

Summary

CVE-2026-123580 describes a DNSSEC validation flaw in Hickory net's DnssecDnsHandle component when built with dnssec-ring or dnssec-aws-lc-rs. The vulnerability arises because the validation process only compares the hashed first label of NSEC3 owner names against the hash of the queried name, neglecting to verify that the NSEC3 record belongs to the correct DNS zone. Consequently, an attacker who controls any DNSSEC-signed zone can publish a signed NSEC3 record with a first label hash matching a name in another zone, causing the validator to incorrectly accept that the name does not exist. The fix, implemented in version 0.26.2, enforces that the matching NSEC3 record must belong to the zone containing the checked name and ignores NSEC3 records whose owner is not directly below the RRSIG signer name.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Nov 2026, 15:35 UTC

Technical details

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