CVE-2026-81634: Heap Overflow (CVSS 7.5)

Description

In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0, a 255 length query name with a large TCP response can lead to a heap buffer overflow during the RRSet canonicalisation routine. This is caused by missing to add the first owner name into the buffer length check. A malicious actor operating a malicious name server or tampering with an incoming response to Unbound (canonicalisation happens before DNSSEC validation), can trigger the vulnerability.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2026-81634?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.5

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0036

Probability of exploitation

0.29%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-122 CWE-122

References

Other References

https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-81634.txt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-81634? +

In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including 1.26.0, a 255 length query name with a large TCP response can lead to a heap buffer overflow during the RRSet canonicalisation routine. This is caused by missing to add the first owner name into the buffer length check. A malicious actor operating a malicious name server or tampering with an incoming response to Unbound (canonicalisation happens before DNSSEC validation), can trigger the vulnerability. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-81634? +

CVE-2026-81634 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0036, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-81634? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Related Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-70653

libvips is a fast image processing library with low memory needs. Prior to version 8.18.3, the old-style Radiance RLE decoder …

CVE-2026-8997

vifm is vulnerable to a heap buffer overflow during the history merge process when saving the state file (vifminfo.json). This …

CVE-2026-8484

A heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Jansi JNI "ioctl()" wrapper due to a lack of size verification for …

CVE-2026-6210

A type confusion vulnerability in Qt SVG allows an attacker to cause an application crash via a crafted SVG image. …

CVE-2026-2467

Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability in RTI Connext Professional (Core Libraries) allows Overflow Variables and Tags.This issue affects Connext Professional: from …

CVE-2025-0633

Heap-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability in iniparser_dumpsection_ini() in iniparser allows attacker to read out of bound memory

CVE-2026-81634