Uncontrolled recursion in Net-DNS
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 fixed, 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-674.
Summary
Net::DNS versions before 1.57 for Perl allow memory exhaustion via unbounded recursion in sig_data when re-encoding a message with a misplaced TSIG record. sig_data signs a message by re-encoding it, and removes TSIG records only from the additional section. A TSIG decoded into the answer or authority section survives that step and is signed again, so encoding re-enters sig_data with no termination condition. Decoding does not reject such a message: a TSIG that is not the last record on the wire raises "misplaced or corrupt TSIG", but the error is caught, reported as a warning, and the record is left in the packet. RFC 8945 section 5.2 requires the message to be dropped. The recursion is reached only when the decoded TSIG carries an empty MAC, since a MAC recovered from the wire short-circuits the signing step. It is reached only from code that re-encodes a message it decoded, such as a forwarder or a proxy. A decoded message that is never re-encoded is unaffected. Message direction does not matter: a query reaches the same path as a response. Each cycle re-encodes the whole message, so fewer than 100 bytes on the wire exhaust available memory and terminate the process.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Net-DNS | before 1.57 | 1.57 | Patch available | CNA |
- Net-DNS Vendor— Affected before 1.57 Fixed in 1.57 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Net-DNS Fixed in 1.57
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2026:68786 Released 2026-09-18 · Red Hat rating Importantperl-Net-DNS security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) perl-Net-DNS-1.29-6.el9_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) perl-Net-DNS-Nameserver-1.29-6.el9_8.1
- RHSA-2026:68787 Released 2026-09-18 · Red Hat rating Importantperl-Net-DNS security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) perl-Net-DNS-1.15-2.el8_10
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:68787 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:68786 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:68786 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-81928
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x88w-xx7m-3m5f
- 2026-10-25 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
Other 5
- https://metacpan.org/release/NLNETLABS/Net-DNS-1.56/source/lib/Net/DNS/RR/TSIG.pm#L245-262
- https://metacpan.org/release/NLNETLABS/Net-DNS-1.56/source/lib/Net/DNS/RR/TSIG.pm#L62-73
- https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8945#section-5.2
- https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=181125
- https://metacpan.org/release/NLNETLABS/Net-DNS-1.57/changes
Sources
- CVE-2026-81928 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-81928 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-x88w-xx7m-3m5f · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-81928 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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