CVE-2026-77860VulnerabilityPublished 16 Sep 2026Updated 11 Nov 2026

In NLnetLabs Unbound 1.20.0 up to and including 1.26.0, a vulnerability on the 'serve-expired' code path can cause a

Affects unboundSource GCVE Database

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Mentioned vulnerabilities

CVE-2024-33655

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-77860· Low 3.7

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.7 Low.

Data as of 11 Nov 2026, 13:10 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

3.7Low

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: High
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: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
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 16 Sep 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 11 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 26.10unbound`pkg:deb/ubuntu/unbound?arch=source&distro=stonking`Other threats	Affected 1.24.2-1ubuntu2 – 1.25.1-1ubuntu3.1 4 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSunbound`pkg:deb/ubuntu/unbound?arch=source&distro=resolute`Other threats	Affected 1.22.0-2ubuntu2 – 1.24.2-1ubuntu2.4 8 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSunbound`pkg:deb/ubuntu/unbound?arch=source&distro=noble`Other threats	Affected 1.17.1-2 – 1.19.2-1ubuntu3.12 17 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 22.04 LTSunbound`pkg:deb/ubuntu/unbound?arch=source&distro=jammy`Other threats	Affected 1.13.1-1ubuntu1 – 1.13.1-1ubuntu5.17 18 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTSunbound`pkg:deb/ubuntu/unbound?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/focal`Other threats	Affected 1.9.0-2ubuntu1 – 1.9.4-2ubuntu1.11+esm3 16 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTSunbound`pkg:deb/ubuntu/unbound?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/bionic`Other threats	Affected 1.6.5-1 – 1.6.7-1ubuntu2.6+esm6 16 affected builds	Fixed in–

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

AI-suggested

Until a fix is available, administrators should consider mitigating exposure by restricting access to the DNS resolver or monitoring for unusual query patterns related to short TTL authoritative zones. Avoid deploying Unbound versions 1.20.0 through 1.26.0 in untrusted network environments if possible.

Description

NLnetLabs Unbound versions 1.20.0 through 1.26.0 contain a vulnerability in the 'serve-expired' code path that allows a malicious actor to bypass a DNS query rate-limiting counter. By exploiting a double decrement on the 'wait-limit' counter per client IP, an attacker controlling an authoritative zone with short TTL can maintain a high number of pending queries, circumventing protections introduced for DNSBomb (CVE-2024-33655). The vulnerability has a low CVSS score of 3.7 and does not impact confidentiality or integrity but may cause limited availability issues.

Impact

The vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass the per-client query rate-limiting mechanism in Unbound, potentially leading to resource exhaustion by holding many pending DNS queries. This can degrade the availability of the DNS resolver service. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. The CVSS score of 3.7 reflects a low severity denial-of-service impact with network attack vector and high attack complexity.

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What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Nov 2026, 13:10 UTC

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