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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2026-62994: CoreDNS `k8s_external` headless AXFR can emit an empty transfer batch that panics the `transfer` plugin

LowCVSS 3.7 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 14/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.45% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • Fixed version: coredns coredns 1.14.5; azl3 coredns 1.11.4-20 on Azure Linux 3.0 1.11.4-20.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to coredns coredns 1.14.5; azl3 coredns 1.11.4-20 on Azure Linux 3.0 1.11.4-20 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

CoreDNS is a DNS server written in Go. From 1.9.4 until 1.14.5, a network DNS client allowed to request AXFR for a CoreDNS zone can trigger a panic when CoreDNS is configured with k8s_external headless-service zone transfers and Kubernetes contains a headless service endpoint with no declared ports; plugin/kubernetes/object/endpoint.go creates Port: -1, plugin/k8s_external/msg_to_dns.go skips that service, plugin/k8s_external/transfer.go sends an empty []dns.RR batch, and plugin/transfer/transfer.go indexes records[0] without checking the batch is non-empty. This issue is fixed in version 1.14.5.

Published
Jul 16, 2026
Updated
Jul 22, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 40th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

14

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
14 / 40 · 3.7 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
proof of concept
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · GitHub_M
3.7
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-62994

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
coredns.iocoredns

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • coredns coredns

    • >= 1.9.4, < 1.14.5affected

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • coredns.io coredns1.9.4 and later · before 1.14.5

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Gogithub.com/coredns/corednsfrom 1.9.4 · before 1.14.51.14.5

Same product

coredns.io: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-33190CoreDNS TSIG authentication bypass on encrypted DNS transports
    34Monitor
  • CVE-2026-32936CoreDNS DoH GET path missing size validation causes CPU and memory amplification
    34Monitor
  • CVE-2026-32934CoreDNS DNS-over-QUIC unbounded goroutine growth leads to denial of service
    34Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-35579May 5, 2026 · CoreDNS TSIG authentication bypass on gRPC, QUIC, DoH, and DoH3 transports
    32Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-62299Jul 16, 2026 · CoreDNS: rewrite-plugin EDNS0 response-revert nil-pointer panic (remote DoS) when a downstream plugin returns a response with no OPT record
    21Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-62309Jul 16, 2026 · CoreDNS: proxyproto plugin panics on PPv2 datagram with non-UDP transport — single 28-byte packet remote DoS
    30Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
coredns coredns1.14.5 · descriptionVendor (CNA)
azl3 coredns 1.11.4-20 on Azure Linux 3.01.11.4-20 · CBL-Mariner ReleasesMicrosoft (MSRC)
Go:github.com/coredns/coredns1.14.5Package 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.

EPSS, last 120 days

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.

Not on record for this CVE: researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
low · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
Low

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-248 · Uncaught Exception

CVSS vector

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

nvd-secondary

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.

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records