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highMemory Corruption

CVE-2026-82717

CVE-2026-82717 — CNAME synthesis could lead to heap corruption

In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0, a vulnerability was found in that can progressively corrupt heap memory and under certain systems and compilation options could lead to remote code execution. The vulnerability starts when CNAME synthesis during an upstream response needs to enforce(rewrite) a max TTL value in the packet buffer. Coupled with a compression pointer that points to the overwritten value and invalidates the domain name, it leads to an error path that does not properly move the buffer position and allows for the heap buffer overflow. Since this is heavily reliant on heap memory layout, results are memory corruption that eventually leads to a crash and under specific systems and compilation options remote code execution.

Published Updated Sources: NVD, NLnet Labs (CNA), GitHub, GitHub Security Advisory, Red Hat (VEX), SOCRadar CTI

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.

Exploitation

Unreported

no source claims exploitation

EPSS

0%

ahead of 0% of scored CVEs

Affects

NLnet Labs

Unbound

CVSS base

8.4

high · 2 sources

Remediation

The vendor's own words where we have them.

This issue is fixed starting with version 1.26.1

Red Hat VEX · CVE-2026-82717

fixed0affected2not affected0

none_available: Affected

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record's own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found.

  • Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations.
  • Prioritize based on EPSS, PoC availability, and external exposure.
  • Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and version as the advisories word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatus
NLnet LabsUnbound0 to < 1.26.1Vulnerable

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack Complexity

High

Attack Vector

Network

Privileges Req

None

User Interaction

None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactSource
8.4CVSS 4.0high——NLnet Labs (CNA)
8.1CVSS 3.1high——Red Hat (VEX)

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:U

What this weakness leads to

MITRE's own consequences and mitigations for the weakness class — the authority's wording, not guidance derived from the CVSS vector.

MITRE

CWE-122 · Heap-based Buffer Overflow

  • DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
  • DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
  • DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
  • Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Mitigation: Pre-design: Use a language or compiler that performs automatic bounds checking.

Weakness & attack patterns

  • CWE-122Heap-based Buffer Overflow

Attack patterns reported against this CVE. The ATT&CK techniques below are inferred from its weakness class.

CAPEC-92 · Forced Integer Overflow

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for network-reachable Unbound.
web/proxy/WAF logsapplication logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first — with the readings a source repeats on a schedule counted underneath rather than listed.

  1. 2026
  2. Added · CVSS 3.1 8.4 (AV:N)

    Sep 16, 2026 · NVD

  3. Initial · CVE published

    Sep 16, 2026 · NVD

  4. Reported · Fixes released with version 1.26.1

    Sep 16, 2026 · NLnet Labs

  5. Added · GHSA-r5xg-xh8m-9q2w published (high)

    Sep 16, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisory

  6. CVE published by MITRE.

    Sep 16, 2026 · SOCRadar CTI

  7. Issue reported by Ben Morris

    Jul 23, 2026 · NLnet Labs

  8. Reported · NLnet Labs shares patch

    Jul 23, 2026 · NLnet Labs

  9. Reported · Ben Morris verifies patch

    Jul 23, 2026 · NLnet Labs

References

6 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record1

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-82717 is CNAME synthesis could lead to heap corruption, a high vulnerability affecting Unbound from NLnet Labs. The current evidence does not list it in CISA KEV, and the exploit status is: Active exploitation is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-82717. Public exploit evidence is: A public PoC is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2026-82717. The affected-version evidence is listed in the key facts and affected products tables. Defenders should first verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run those versions, then apply vendor patches or mitigations, restrict reachable attack surface, and preserve logs for detection review. CVSS 8.4 describes technical severity, while EPSS 0% helps estimate near-term exploit likelihood; neither replaces asset context. Unknown fields should remain explicit in tickets, and threat actor, IOC, victimology, or payload claims should not be added unless a cited source supports them. Monitor CISA KEV, vendor advisories, NVD changes, public PoC repositories, and internal telemetry for update triggers.