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Unbound DNS EUVDEUVD-2026-47662

| CVE-2026-14586 MEDIUM
Reachable Assertion (CWE-617)
2026-07-22 NLnet Labs GHSA-x2gg-pjp4-c6g3
5.9
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: NLnet Labs
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Probe resolver for open quic-port
  2. Delivery
    Establish high-volume concurrent DoQ sessions
  3. Exploit
    Submit sustained DNS query flood
  4. Execution
    Clock value supplied to libngtcp2 violates monotonic invariant
  5. Persist
    Assert fires in libngtcp2
  6. Impact
    Unbound process terminates

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Reachable assertion handling
Exploitation Conditions

Two explicit prerequisites must both be satisfied: (1) Unbound must have been compiled with '--with-libngtcp2', which is a non-default compile-time option enabling DNS-over-QUIC support; and (2) the 'quic-port' directive must be present in the Unbound configuration, enabling a DoQ listening interface. Beyond configuration, the assertion requires high concurrency and the resolver to be under load - a single or low-rate query stream is unlikely to trigger it. What limits exploitation: deployments compiled without libngtcp2 (the majority of packaged distributions that do not ship DoQ support), deployments where quic-port is not configured, and low-traffic resolvers where the race condition is unlikely to manifest. Authentication is not required (PR:N) - any client able to reach the DoQ port can contribute to the triggering condition.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 score of 5.9 Medium (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) accurately reflects the conditional nature of this vulnerability. The AC:H rating is justified: triggering the assertion requires both a specific non-default compile-time flag and a runtime configuration directive, plus sustained high-concurrency load - not a single malformed packet. The availability impact is rated High because successful triggering abruptly terminates the server rather than degrading it gracefully. No EPSS score was provided, and the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV, indicating no confirmed active exploitation. There is no known public proof-of-concept. Real-world risk is substantially reduced by the deployment prerequisites: DoQ support in Unbound is an optional, non-default feature requiring explicit compile-time and runtime configuration. Organizations not running DoQ are entirely unaffected. Those that are should treat this as a moderate priority given the high availability impact if conditions are met.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker aware that a target Unbound resolver has DoQ enabled (discoverable via QUIC handshake probing on the configured quic-port) sends a sustained flood of concurrent DoQ queries. Under sufficient load, Unbound passes a non-monotonic realtime timestamp to libngtcp2, triggering the assert and abruptly terminating the resolver process. No exploit code is publicly available; the attack requires generating genuine high-concurrency DoQ traffic rather than a single crafted packet.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.4% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Jul 22, 2026

Denial of service in NLnet Labs Unbound 1.22.0 through 1.25.1 causes server termination when DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) is enabled and the resolver operates under high concurrency. Unbound incorrectly passes realtime clock values to libngtcp2 where monotonic timestamps are required; under load, the resulting assertion failure in libngtcp2 abruptly kills the Unbound process. No public exploit code exists and no active exploitation has been reported, but the self-termination of a DNS resolver constitutes a severe availability impact for any infrastructure depending on it.

RemediationAI

Consult the NLnet Labs advisory at https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-14586.txt for the patched release version; a specific fixed version number was not confirmed in the data available at time of analysis. As an immediate compensating control, operators can remove the 'quic-port' directive from Unbound's configuration and restart the service, which disables the DoQ listener entirely and eliminates the vulnerable code path with no impact on standard DNS-over-UDP or DNS-over-TLS operation. Alternatively, operators may recompile Unbound without the '--with-libngtcp2' flag, though this requires a rebuild and redeployment. If DoQ is operationally required, rate-limiting inbound QUIC connections at a network boundary (firewall or load balancer) to reduce concurrency may reduce the probability of triggering the assertion, but this is not a reliable mitigation and should be treated as a temporary measure only.

Affected VersionsENISA

Unbound 1.22.0 <1.25.2

Affected Packages

euvd unbound fix: 1.25.2

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Unbound is a validating, recursive, caching DNS resolver maintained by NLnet Labs. The vulnerable code path involves its optional DNS-over-QUIC transport layer, which relies on libngtcp2 - a C library implementing the QUIC protocol. libngtcp2 requires callers to supply monotonic timestamps (via CLOCK_MONOTONIC) to enforce the invariant that time never goes backward within a QUIC session. Unbound was instead supplying CLOCK_REALTIME values, which can decrease (e.g., due to NTP corrections or clock slew). Under high concurrency, the probability of libngtcp2 observing a non-monotonic timestamp rises enough to trigger a built-in assertion guard (CWE-617: Reachable Assertion), which calls abort() and terminates the process. The affected product is identified in NVD as cpe:2.3:a:nlnet_labs:unbound:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covering versions 1.22.0 to 1.25.1.

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Severity by source

Vendor (NLnet Labs) PRIMARY 5.9 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 5.9 MEDIUM

Network-reachable via DoQ port (AV:N); triggering requires high concurrency under load (AC:H); no credentials needed (PR:N); server abort is full availability loss (A:H); no confidentiality or integrity impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE MEDIUM
Red Hat 5.9 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (NLnet Labs).

CVSS VectorVendor: NLnet Labs

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

1
Patch available
Jul 22, 2026 - 16:18 EUVD

DescriptionCVE.org

In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.22.0 up to and including 1.25.1, in DNS-over-QUIC environments, with high concurrency and under pressure, an assertion in libngtcp2 about monotonic timestamps could trigger and result in server termination and thus denial of service. When interfacing with libngtcp2, for DNS-over-QUIC support in Unbound, it is expected to use monotonic time. Unbound was using realtime instead, and in DoQ environments with high concurrency and under pressure, an assert in libngtcp2 for the quic timestamp would trigger and terminate the server.This vulnerability needs Unbound to be compiled with DoQ support ('--with-libngtcp2') and the 'quic-port' to be configured for the listening interfaces.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.4%
Top 71% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
popular open-source DNS resolver, DoQ feature rarely deployed
Data Quality
7 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment MSRC Vendor VulDB

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.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.4%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

30
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +30
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
openSUSE Tumbleweed Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 Not-Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 Not-Affected

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