CVE-2026-56416
MEDIUMDescription
In NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including version 1.25.1, when the validator builds the canonical RDATA form for an RRSIG-covered PX/RP/MINFO/SOA RRset, it computes the address of the second embedded domain name as 'datstart + dname_valid(datstart, ...)' and passes it straight to 'query_dname_tolower()' without checking that a second name is actually present in the RDATA. The wire-format parser accepts multi-dname RRs whose RDATA ends after the first name, so an attacker who runs a DNSSEC-signed authoritative server can deliver a record with an absent second domain name (e.g. SOA record) and cause 'query_dname_tolower()' to walk label-by-label through stale bytes in the per-worker 'env->scratch_buffer', past the end of that heap allocation if 'msg-buffer-size' has been lowered from the default. This leads to heap buffer overflow and on a release build the outcome relies heavily on the contents of the buffer tail and the adjacent heap chunk.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L/E:U
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 2% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-354 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-48795 | Medium | 5.9 | 93% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-1166 | Medium | 5.9 | 68% | - | - |
| CVE-2024-3596 | Critical | 9.0 | 15% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-26141 | Medium | 6.5 | 3.1% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-25862 | High | 7.5 | 2.4% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-8838 | Medium | 6.4 | 1.6% | - | - |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2026-56416?
Published advisories record a fix for 3 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2026-56416 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2026-56416 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 0.12% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 2% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2026-56416?
CVE-2026-56416 has a CVSS v3 base score of 4.8, rated moderate. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2026-56416 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for unbound (Debian), unbound (Rocky), unbound (Red Hat / RHEL). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-07-24.