CVE-2026-52863
5.9 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2026-52863 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting nlnetlabs unbound. It was published on July 22, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.9 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.9, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.25.0 up to and including 1.25.1, a fix that makes the 'respip' and 'dns64' modules work together, creates a shallow copy of the view name in effect that could lead to memory corruption if the owner of the original view name is jostled out when Unbound is under pressure. Unbound needs to be configured with one of 'respip'/'rpz' modules, together with a module that can attach subqueries (respip CNAME redirection, dns64, subnetcache) and a configured 'access-control-view' while Unbound is under pressure so that joslte logic kicks in and starts dropping slow queries. The subquery is getting a shallow copy of the view name and if the super query which owns the view name is jostled out, memory corruption can occur. Likelihood of a crash is low, since it relies heavily on the underlying memory allocator and the memory layout. Debug memory builds (e.g., ASAN) that catch the free terminate the server.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from nlnetlabs. Update unbound to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| nlnetlabs | unbound | >= 1.25.0, < 1.25.2 | Affected |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2026-52863?
CVE-2026-52863 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting nlnetlabs unbound. It was published on July 22, 2026 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.9 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2026-52863?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.9, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2026-52863?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from nlnetlabs. Update unbound to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2026-52863?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2026-52863 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
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