CVE-2026-78227

Public on 2026-09-16
Modified on 2026-09-16
Description
NLnet Labs Unbound 1.22.0 up to and including 1.26.1, has a use-after-free vulnerability when compiled for DNS-over-QUIC support with '--with-libngtcp2'. Each DoQ stream owns an output buffer that holds the DNS response. ngtcp2's retransmission buffer keeps a shallow pointer into the output buffer for as long as a STREAM frame may be resent. On a client RESET_STREAM, the output buffer is freed but ngtcp2 still holds the matching retransmission entries. The next PTO timeout makes ngtcp2 re-encode the STREAM frame and copy from the freed buffer. A malicious actor that can query Unbound over DoQ and that withholds ACKs, sends RESET_STREAM, and waits for PTO, reaches this use-after-free with no privilege. This leads to retransmissions against freed memory and eventually an abnormal server exit under a 20-query spray.
Severity
Important severity
Important
See what this means
CVSS v3 Base Score
7.5
See breakdown

Affected Packages

Platform Package Release Date Advisory Status
Amazon Linux 2 - Core unbound Not Affected
Amazon Linux 2 - Unbound1.17 Extra unbound Not Affected
Amazon Linux 2023 unbound Not Affected
Amazon Linux 2027 Preview unbound Pending Fix

CVSS Scores

Score Type Score Vector
Amazon Linux CVSSv3 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H