CVE-2026-40622

Another 'ghost domain names' attack variant

Published May 20, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 6.6 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
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.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

This issue is fixed starting with version 1.25.1

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6304-1 unbound security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6507-1 unbound security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8282-1 Unbound vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:nlnetlabs:unbound:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Nlnetlabs
Nlnetlabs unbound
Vendors & Products Nlnetlabs
Nlnetlabs unbound
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-107
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-346
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-107
Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title Another 'ghost domain names' attack variant
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 6.6, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Amber'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
NLnet Labs
Published
Updated
May 20, 2026, 12:12 PM
Reserved
May 7, 2026, 10:07 AM
Status
Analyzed
Published
May 20, 2026, 10:16 AM
Modified
Jul 24, 2026, 10:10 AM