CVE-2021-36754PowerDNS Authoritative Server 4.5.0 before 4.5.1 allows anybody to crash the process by sending a specific query (QTYPE 65535) that causes…
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 64.9%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.7% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
PowerDNS Authoritative Server 4.5.0 before 4.5.1 allows anybody to crash the process by sending a specific query (QTYPE 65535) that causes an out-of-bounds exception.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Nuclei template for it.
Show the exploits1
Nuclei templates1 template
- PowerDNS Authoritative Server - Denial of Service (Nuclei template) (opens in a new tab)
javascript/cves/2021/CVE-2021-36754.yamlSeverity high
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 12 days later
· 12 days later
Published
- 3 years later
· 3 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 64.9% · top 0.7% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References3
- https://doc.powerdns.com/authoritative/security-advisories/index.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- [oss-security] 20210726 security advisory 2021-01 for PowerDNS Authoritative Server 4.5.0 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- https://doc.powerdns.com/authoritative/security-advisories/powerdns-advisory-2021-01.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2021-23342 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2021-36754)Record last updated .