CVE-2023-2911

Exceeding the recursive-clients quota may cause named to terminate unexpectedly when stale-answer-client-timeout is set to 0

Published Jun 21, 2023 CVSS 3.1 · 7.5 High EPSS 2.4% KEV · Not listed
Description
If the `recursive-clients` quota is reached on a BIND 9 resolver configured with both `stale-answer-enable yes;` and `stale-answer-client-timeout 0;`, a sequence of serve-stale-related lookups could cause `named` to loop and terminate unexpectedly due to a stack overflow.
This issue affects BIND 9 versions 9.16.33 through 9.16.41, 9.18.7 through 9.18.15, 9.16.33-S1 through 9.16.41-S1, and 9.18.11-S1 through 9.18.15-S1.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to the patched release most closely related to your current version of BIND 9: 9.16.42, 9.18.16, 9.16.42-S1, or 9.18.16-S1.


Vendor Workaround

Setting `stale-answer-client-timeout` to `off` or to a non-zero value prevents the issue. Users of versions 9.18.10, 9.16.36, 9.16.36-S1 or older who are unable to upgrade should set `stale-answer-client-timeout` to `off`; using a non-zero value with these older versions leaves `named` vulnerable to CVE-2022-3924. Although it is possible to set the `recursive-clients` limit to a high number to reduce the likelihood of this scenario, this is not recommended; the limit on `recursive-clients` is important for preventing exhaustion of server resources. The limit cannot be disabled entirely.

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-5439-1 bind9 security update
EUVD EUVD EUVD-2023-34357 If the `recursive-clients` quota is reached on a BIND 9 resolver configured with both `stale-answer-enable yes;` and `stale-answer-client-timeout 0;`, a sequence of serve-stale-related lookups could cause `named` to loop and terminate unexpectedly due to a stack overflow. This issue affects BIND 9 versions 9.16.33 through 9.16.41, 9.18.7 through 9.18.15, 9.16.33-S1 through 9.16.41-S1, and 9.18.11-S1 through 9.18.15-S1.
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-6183-1 Bind vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

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