CVE-2026-12969Dnsmasq: dnsmasq: out-of-bounds read in find_soa() due to missing extrabytes validation
- 5.3MediumCVSS base score
- 0.26%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 83% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in dnsmasq's find_soa() function in src/rfc1035.c. When parsing NS section records, extract_name() is called with extrabytes=0, failing to validate that 10 additional bytes exist for fixed-length DNS record fields. A remote attacker controlling a DNS zone can exploit this via a crafted NXDOMAIN response to cause a 10-byte heap out-of-bounds read, potentially accessing stale data from prior transactions.
Timeline
ID reserved
By redhat
Published
- 5 months later
· 5 months 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| redhatCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Medium5.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Medium5.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.26% · top 83% of all CVEs (12 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.3.
Affected products
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
All versions: affected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
All versions: unaffected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
All versions: unaffected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions: unaffected
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions: unaffected
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
All versions: unaffected
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
All versions: unaffected
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
All versions: unaffected
What to do
Workaround: Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability. The fix is available in dnsmasq 2.93rc1 and later.
References
References2
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12969 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2491663 (opens in a new tab)issue-trackingx_refsource_REDHAT
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-2026-38449 (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-2026-12969)Record last updated .