Novel "ghost domain names" attack by updating almost expired delegation information
NLnet Labs Unbound, up to and including version 1.16.1, is vulnerable to a novel type of the "ghost domain names" attack. The vulnerability works by targeting an Unbound instance. Unbound is queried for a rogue domain name when the cached delegation information is about to expire. The rogue nameserver delays the response so that the cached delegation information is expired. Upon receiving the delayed answer containing the delegation information, Unbound overwrites the now expired entries. This action can be repeated when the delegation information is about to expire making the rogue delegation information ever-updating. From version 1.16.2 on, Unbound stores the start time for a query and uses that to decide if the cached delegation information can be overwritten.
- Published
- Aug 1, 2022
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 1.1% · 65th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-613
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Report tools
Action score
26
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 1.1%
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| nlnetlabs | unbound | cpe:2.3:a:nlnetlabs:unbound |
| fedoraproject | fedora | cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- fedoraproject fedora35
- fedoraproject fedora36
- nlnetlabs unboundbefore 1.16.2
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (NLnet Labs). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
NLnet Labs Unbound
- unspecified and later · up to and including 1.16.1affected
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux:8 | python3-unbound | before 1.16.2-2.el8 | 1.16.2-2.el8 |
| AlmaLinux:8 | unbound | before 1.16.2-2.el8 | 1.16.2-2.el8 |
| AlmaLinux:8 | unbound-devel | before 1.16.2-2.el8 | 1.16.2-2.el8 |
| AlmaLinux:8 | unbound-libs | before 1.16.2-2.el8 | 1.16.2-2.el8 |
| AlmaLinux:9 | python3-unbound | before 1.16.2-2.el9 | 1.16.2-2.el9 |
| AlmaLinux:9 | unbound | before 1.16.2-2.el9 | 1.16.2-2.el9 |
| AlmaLinux:9 | unbound-devel | before 1.16.2-2.el9 | 1.16.2-2.el9 |
| AlmaLinux:9 | unbound-libs | before 1.16.2-2.el9 | 1.16.2-2.el9 |
| Alpine:v3.17 | unbound | before 1.16.2-r0 | 1.16.2-r0 |
| Debian:10 | unbound | before 1.9.0-2+deb10u3 | 1.9.0-2+deb10u3 |
| Debian:12 | unbound | before 1.16.2-1 | 1.16.2-1 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | python3-unbound | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | python3-unbound-debuginfo | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | unbound | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | unbound-debuginfo | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | unbound-debugsource | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | unbound-devel | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | unbound-libs | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | unbound-libs-debuginfo | before 0:1.16.2-2.el8 | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | python3-unbound | before 0:1.16.2-2.el9 | 0:1.16.2-2.el9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | python3-unbound-debuginfo | before 0:1.16.2-2.el9 | 0:1.16.2-2.el9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | unbound | before 0:1.16.2-2.el9 | 0:1.16.2-2.el9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | unbound-debuginfo | before 0:1.16.2-2.el9 | 0:1.16.2-2.el9 |
| Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | unbound-debugsource | before 0:1.16.2-2.el9 | 0:1.16.2-2.el9 |
+17
Same product
nlnetlabs: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2019-25042Unbound before 1.9.5 allows an out-of-bounds write via a compressed name in rdata_copy.40Plan
- CVE-2019-25039Unbound before 1.9.5 allows an integer overflow in a size calculation in respip/respip.c.40Plan
- CVE-2019-25038Unbound before 1.9.5 allows an integer overflow in a size calculation in dnscrypt/dnscrypt.c.40Plan
- CVE-2019-25035Unbound before 1.9.5 allows an out-of-bounds write in sldns_bget_token_par.40Plan
- CVE-2019-25034Unbound before 1.9.5 allows an integer overflow in sldns_str2wire_dname_buf_origin, leading to an out-of-bounds write.40Plan
- CVE-2019-25033Unbound before 1.9.5 allows an integer overflow in the regional allocator via the ALIGN_UP macro.40Plan
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| almalinux:python3-unbound | 1.16.2-2.el8 · AlmaLinux:8 | Package registry (OSV) |
| almalinux:unbound | 1.16.2-2.el8 · AlmaLinux:8 | Package registry (OSV) |
| almalinux:unbound-devel | 1.16.2-2.el8 · AlmaLinux:8 | Package registry (OSV) |
| almalinux:unbound-libs | 1.16.2-2.el8 · AlmaLinux:8 | Package registry (OSV) |
| alpine:unbound | 1.16.2-r0 · Alpine:v3.17 | Package registry (OSV) |
| debian:unbound | 1.16.2-1 · Debian:12 | Package registry (OSV) |
| opensuse:unbound | 1.20.0-150600.23.3.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:python3-unbound | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:python3-unbound-debuginfo | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:unbound | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:unbound-debuginfo | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:unbound-debugsource | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:unbound-devel | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:unbound-libs | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| red hat:unbound-libs-debuginfo | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | Package registry (OSV) |
| rocky linux:unbound | 0:1.16.2-2.el8 · Rocky Linux:8 | Package registry (OSV) |
| suse:unbound | 1.20.0-150600.23.3.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-613 · Insufficient Session ExpirationCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
- lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/03/msg00024.html
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5L3ZFWZZFPBIL654BG75RWXUMPFQJ5EC/
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/D35CX4SCZVNKZTWJXPDFTHWZHINMGEZD/
- security.gentoo.org/glsa/202212-02
- www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2022-30698_CVE-2022-30699.txt
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.