Powerdns
CVE-2020-14196
MEDIUM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization logic validation
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 5.3 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could bypass authorization checks to access restricted resources by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
In PowerDNS Recursor versions up to and including 4.3.1, 4.2.2 and 4.1.16, the ACL restricting access to the internal web server is not properly enforced. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Review and test authorization logic, implement consistent access control checks, use centralized authorization framework.
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 Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863), which allows attackers to bypass authorization checks to access restricted resources. In PowerDNS Recursor versions up to and including 4.3.1, 4.2.2 and 4.1.16, the ACL restricting access to the internal web server is not properly enforced. Affected products include: Powerdns Recursor.
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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:N/I:L/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
In PowerDNS Recursor versions up to and including 4.3.1, 4.2.2 and 4.1.16, the ACL restricting access to the internal web server is not properly enforced.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
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
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
PowerDNS (aka pdns) Authoritative Server before 3.4.10 does not properly handle a . Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this
PowerDNS (aka pdns) Authoritative Server before 3.4.10 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (backend CPU
A vulnerability was found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server before 4.0.7 and before 4.1.7. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8)
PowerDNS Authoritative Server 4.5.0 before 4.5.1 allows anybody to crash the process by sending a specific query (QTYPE
The resolver in PowerDNS Recursor (aka pdns_recursor) 3.3 overwrites cached server names and TTL values in NS records du
Remote attackers can corrupt PowerDNS Authoritative Server configuration via specially crafted DNS NOTIFY requests, caus
An issue was discovered in PowerDNS Authoritative through 4.3.0 when --enable-experimental-gss-tsig is used. Rated criti
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Recursor versions 4.1.x before 4.1.9 where records in the answer section of response
Out-of-bounds memory read in dnsdist allows remote attackers to trigger information disclosure or denial of service when
dnsdist version 1.1.0 is vulnerable to a flaw in authentication mechanism for REST API potentially allowing CSRF attack.
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Recursor 4.1.0 up to and including 4.3.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulne
Denial of service in PowerDNS Authoritative DNS server (versions 4.9.0-4.9.14 and 5.0.0-5.0.4) arises from insufficient
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB