Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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ReconObtain high-privilege access to Unbound management interface
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DeliveryIdentify named view with empty local-data configuration
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ExploitIssue view_local_data or view_local_datas against target view
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InstallUnbound creates bare local zones tree without RFC 1918/AS112/.onion defaults
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C2Affected clients query protected names
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ExecuteIterator forwards queries to public DNS resolvers
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ImpactPrivate network metadata leaks externally
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Secure default settings
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| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires three concurrent conditions: (1) The target Unbound instance must be configured to use named views - the default non-view configuration is not affected. (2) At least one named view in unbound.conf must have an empty local data section, meaning the view block contains no local-zone or local-data directives. (3) A user with administrative access to unbound-control must issue a view_local_data or view_local_datas command targeting that empty view. The attack vector is local (AV:L) and requires high privileges (PR:H), meaning only a user authorized to run unbound-control commands - typically root or a privileged service account - can trigger the condition. User interaction (UI:R) is required in that the administrator must actively issue the command. Non-views deployments, views with pre-existing local data, and environments where unbound-control access is restricted or unused are not affected. |
| Impact | Real-world risk is low in absolute terms but policy-significant for environments relying on DNS views for privacy or network segregation enforcement. The CVSS base score of 3.1 (Low) is consistent with AV:L/PR:H - exploitation requires an authorized administrator with local system access and permission to invoke unbound-control commands, substantially constraining the threat actor population. EPSS data was not provided, but the combination of low CVSS, local-only attack vector, and high privilege requirement strongly implies a low exploitation probability score. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV and no publicly available exploit code has been identified. The primary real-world harm is information leakage: private IP reverse lookups, .onion name queries, and other protected-name queries from affected clients will be forwarded to public recursive infrastructure, potentially exposing internal network topology and violating confidentiality assumptions or regulatory requirements. Integrity is also marginally impacted because public DNS may return unexpected authoritative answers for AS112 and RFC 1918 reverse zones. The UI:R metric is notable - the misconfiguration cannot trigger spontaneously; an administrator must actively invoke the view_local_data command. This is a real priority for operators who enforce DNS policy through Unbound views, but the attack surface is narrow and the risk of widespread automated exploitation is negligible. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An administrator with unbound-control access issues a view_local_data command to add a local record to a named view that was defined in unbound.conf with no local-data entries. Unbound creates the bare local zones tree for that view in memory, omitting the RFC 1918 and AS112 defaults. From that point forward, clients mapped to that view - for example, internal hosts in a split-horizon deployment - receive answers from the public internet when querying 10.x.x.x reverse names or .onion addresses, leaking internal addressing data to upstream public resolvers. No exploit code is required; the trigger is the normal, intended use of the unbound-control command. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jul 22, 2026
Policy bypass in NLnet Labs Unbound 1.6.0 through 1.25.1 causes DNS queries for default-protected zones - including RFC 1918 reverse zones, AS112 zones, .onion, and .localhost - to escape to public recursive resolvers instead of being answered locally. The root cause is that the unbound-control commands view_local_data and view_local_datas, when issued against a named view that was initially configured with no local data, create a bare local zones tree that omits the expected default-protected zone entries. Clients mapped to that view subsequently receive answers from the public internet for names that are supposed to be handled locally, silently subverting operator-defined DNS policy. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and active exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA KEV.
RemediationAI
Patch available per vendor advisory at https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-55708.txt - an exact patched release version is not independently confirmed from the data available at time of analysis; operators should consult the advisory for the definitive fix version and upgrade accordingly. As an immediate compensating control, administrators should ensure that any named view that may receive view_local_data or view_local_datas commands includes at least one local-data or local-zone directive in its static configuration, so that Unbound populates the local zones tree - including defaults - at startup rather than creating a bare tree on first command invocation. Operators should audit existing view configurations for views with empty local data blocks and pre-populate them. Restricting unbound-control access via the control-interface ACL to only trusted management hosts reduces the ability of a compromised or rogue administrator account to trigger this condition. Note that the pre-population workaround requires a configuration reload (unbound-control reload), which briefly interrupts query processing.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
Unbound (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:nlnet_labs:unbound:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) is a validating, recursive, caching DNS resolver widely deployed in ISP, enterprise, and security-sensitive environments. Its 'views' feature - analogous to BIND9 views - partitions DNS response behavior by client address, enabling split-horizon DNS and per-segment policy enforcement. By default, Unbound populates the local zones tree with a set of protected zone stubs covering RFC 1918 address space reverse zones (10.in-addr.arpa, 168.192.in-addr.arpa, 16.172.in-addr.arpa, etc.), AS112 zones, .onion (per RFC 7686), .localhost, and .invalid - ensuring queries for these names never reach the public DNS. The unbound-control management interface provides the view_local_data and view_local_datas commands to add local resource records to named views at runtime. The defect, classified under CWE-1188 (Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default Value), manifests when these commands are issued against a named view whose configuration block contains no local-data directives: Unbound creates the view's local zones tree on demand but fails to seed it with the default-protected zone stubs, leaving the tree bare. Subsequent queries for default-protected names from clients in that view are handled by the iterator module against the public DNS hierarchy rather than being answered locally.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Local-only trigger via unbound-control (AV:L), administrative privilege required (PR:H), administrator must actively issue the command (UI:R), limited confidentiality and integrity impact from DNS leakage (C:L/I:L), no availability impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (NLnet Labs).
CVSS VectorVendor: NLnet Labs
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.6.0 up to and including 1.25.1, the 'view_local_data' and 'view_local_datas' commands of 'unbound-control' create a bare local zones tree for an already configured named view when the view is configured with no local data to begin with. However, the creation through the control interface omits adding the default-protected zones (e.g., RFC 1918 reverse, AS112 zones, .onion, .localhost). Once the local zone tree exists without the defaults, every query for a default-protected name from a client mapped to that view escapes to the public DNS via the iterator instead of being answered locally, bypassing local policy expectations.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
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SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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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
EUVD-2026-47679
GHSA-c386-7qg7-h3qx
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB