Unbound
CVE-2019-18934
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization OS command sanitization, avoid shell exec
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 7.3 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
Unbound 1.6.4 through 1.9.4 contain a vulnerability in the ipsec module that can cause shell code execution after receiving a specially crafted answer. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Avoid passing user input to shell commands. Use language-specific APIs instead of shell execution. Apply strict input validation with allowlists.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host. Unbound 1.6.4 through 1.9.4 contain a vulnerability in the ipsec module that can cause shell code execution after receiving a specially crafted answer. This issue can only be triggered if unbound was compiled with --enable-ipsecmod support, and ipsecmod is enabled and used in the configuration. Affected products include: Nlnetlabs Unbound, Fedoraproject Fedora, Opensuse Leap. Version information: through 1.9.4.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
Unbound 1.6.4 through 1.9.4 contain a vulnerability in the ipsec module that can cause shell code execution after receiving a specially crafted answer. This issue can only be triggered if unbound was compiled with --enable-ipsecmod support, and ipsecmod is enabled and used in the configuration.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
OS command injection occurs when an application passes unsanitized user input directly into system shell commands.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
A crafted DNSKEY whose owner name is a compression pointer into its own RDATA overflows the digest buffer in the DNSSEC
Use-after-free in the DNSSEC validator of NLnet Labs Unbound resolver versions 1.19.1 through 1.25.0 allows remote attac
Remote denial of service in NLnet Labs Unbound recursive DNS resolver (versions up to and including 1.25.0) allows an at
Heap overflow denial-of-service in NLnet Labs Unbound recursive DNS resolver versions 1.14.0 through 1.25.0 allows remot
Heap-based memory corruption in NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0 lets a remote, unauthenticated attacker wh
Unbound before 1.9.4 accesses uninitialized memory, which allows remote attackers to trigger a crash via a crafted NOTIF
Remote denial of service in NLnet Labs Unbound 1.22.0 through 1.25.1 lets an unauthenticated client exhaust configured m
Remote denial-of-service in NLnet Labs Unbound 1.23.0 through 1.25.1 lets an attacker who controls a delegated DNS zone
Remote denial-of-service in NLnet Labs Unbound 1.9.0 through 1.25.1 allows an unauthenticated attacker to crash the recu
Heap buffer overflow in NLnet Labs Unbound 1.26.0 and earlier can be triggered when a resolver processing a large TCP-fr
Denial-of-service through algorithmic complexity attacks in NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0 can degrade or
Degradation of service in NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0 allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to mon
Exploit-DB