Vulnerability Report

CVE-2026-44608

Title: Unbound Locking Inconsistency Leads to Heap Use-After-Free

Other

Proof Of Concept

No public PoC currently indexed for CVE-2026-44608.

CWE Category CWE-413
Published Date May 20, 2026
Modified Date Jul 24, 2026
Exploit Status Not Found
Score 4.6 CVSS v4.0
Exploit Probability (EPSS)
0.26%

Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2026-44608: NLnet Labs Unbound 1.14.0 up to and including version 1.25.0 has a locking inconsistency vulnerability that when certain conditions are met (multi-threaded, RPZ XFR reload, RPZ zone with 'rpz-nsip'/'rpz-nsdname' triggers) it could result in heap use-after-free and eventual crash. An adversary can exploit the vulnerability if conditions are first met on a vulnerable Unbound, i.e., multi-threaded, an RPZ zone with 'rpz-nsip'/'rpz-nsdname' triggers and an ongoing XFR for that RPZ zone. Local RPZ files do not trigger the vulnerability. If the timing is right and an XFR happens at the same time another thread needs to read that RPZ zone, the reader may not hold the lock long enough and the thread applying the XFR may free objects that the reader is about to walk causing the use-after-free. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix to the locking code.

Impacted Vendors

N
nlnetlabs 1
F
fedoraproject 1

Reference Links

https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-44608.txt
CVSS v4.0
Source Entity [email protected]
Severity MEDIUM
4.6
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
N/A
Interaction
NONE
Confidentiality
N/A
Integrity
N/A
Availability
N/A
Scope
N/A
RAW VECTOR CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber
CVSS v3.1
Source Entity [email protected]
Severity MEDIUM
5.9
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
N/A
Interaction
NONE
Confidentiality
N/A
Integrity
N/A
Availability
N/A
Scope
UNCHANGED
RAW VECTOR CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Associated Attack Patterns (CAPEC)

Total: Patterns

CVE-2026-44608 Exploits & PoCs (Proof Of Concept)

No public PoCs found in our database for this CVE.

MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

MODIFIED

Vulnerability data updated via NVD.

Attack Vector Matrix

Access Vector NETWORK
Complexity HIGH
Privileges N/A
Interaction NONE
CVSS Vector String CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber

Affected Stack

No specific products linked.