CVE-2026-40622

Public on 2026-05-20
Modified on 2026-05-20
Description
NLnet Labs Unbound 1.16.2 up to and including version 1.25.0 has a vulnerability of the 'ghost domain names' family of attacks that could extend the ghost domain window by up to one cached TTL configured value. Similar to other 'ghost domain names' attacks, an adversary needs to control a (ghost) zone and be able to query a vulnerable Unbound. A single client NS query can cause Unbound to overwrite the cached expired parent-side referral NS rrset with the child-side apex NS rrset and essentially extend the ghost domain window by up to one cached TTL configured value ('cache-max-ttl'). In configurations where 'harden-referral-path: yes' is used (non-default configuration), no client NS query is required since Unbound implicitly performs that query. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix that does not allow extension of TTLs for (parent) NS records regardless of their trust.
Severity
Medium severity
Medium
See what this means
CVSS v3 Base Score
5.3
See breakdown

Affected Packages

Platform Package Release Date Advisory Status
Amazon Linux 2 - Core unbound Pending Fix
Amazon Linux 2 - Unbound1.17 Extra unbound Pending Fix
Amazon Linux 2023 unbound Pending Fix

CVSS Scores

Score Type Score Vector
Amazon Linux CVSSv3 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N