CVE-2022-30698Novel "ghost domain names" attack by introducing subdomain delegations
- 6.5MediumCVSS base score
- 1.2%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 33% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
NLnet Labs Unbound, up to and including version 1.16.1 is vulnerable to a novel type of the "ghost domain names" attack. The vulnerability works by targeting an Unbound instance. Unbound is queried for a subdomain of a rogue domain name. The rogue nameserver returns delegation information for the subdomain that updates Unbound's delegation cache. This action can be repeated before expiry of the delegation information by querying Unbound for a second level subdomain which the rogue nameserver provides new delegation information. Since Unbound is a child-centric resolver, the ever-updating child delegation information can keep a rogue domain name resolvable long after revocation. From version 1.16.2 on, Unbound checks the validity of parent delegation records before using cached delegation information.
Timeline
ID reserved
By NLnet Labs
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Published
- 2 years later
· 2 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 | Medium6.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 1.2% · top 33% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.5.
Affected products
- affected unspecified – ≤ 1.16.1
References
References5
- https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2022-30698_CVE-2022-30699.txt (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
- FEDORA-2022-f89beb0640 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- FEDORA-2022-0a914d5c6b (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- GLSA-202212-02 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
- [debian-lts-announce] 20230329 [SECURITY] [DLA 3371-1] unbound security update (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_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-2022-52528 (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-2022-30698)Record last updated .