CVE-2026-69186

c-ares: Memory-amplification denial of service via unvalidated DNS header record counts

CVE-2026-69186 is fixed in 3 products on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-69186, released August 11, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

Routine
CVSS
5.3
Moderate
Exploitation
None reported
No vendor assessment
CISA KEV
Not listed
Not in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
EPSS
0.0047
40th percentile

c-ares is an asynchronous resolver library. Prior to 1.34.7, ares_dns_parse() trusts the attacker-controlled ANCOUNT, NSCOUNT, and ARCOUNT fields before confirming that the DNS response contains enough bytes for the claimed records. Because process_answer() invokes parsing before transaction ID and question validation, a malicious DNS response can cause ares_dns_record_rr_prealloc() and ares_array_set_size() to reserve disproportionate heap memory for a tiny message. Repeated responses create large allocation and release cycles that can degrade or deny name resolution, without causing memory corruption or information disclosure. This issue is fixed in version 1.34.7.

Where it's fixed

ProductFixed inFixReleased
Linux
c-ares · Debian 14 1.34.7-1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-69186 Aug 11, 2026
c-ares · opensuse-leap 16.0 1.34.8-160000.1.1 OPENSUSE-SU-2026:21721-1 Sep 1, 2026
c-ares · sles 15.6 1.34.8-150000.3.29.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4021-1 Sep 7, 2026
c-ares · sles 15.7 1.34.8-150000.3.29.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4021-1 Sep 7, 2026
c-ares · sles 16.0 1.34.8-160000.1.1 SUSE-SU-2026:23597-1 Sep 1, 2026
libc-ares2 · Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS (resolute) 1.34.6-1ubuntu0.2 libc-ares2 1.34.6-1ubuntu0.2 Sep 18, 2026
libcares2 · Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS (noble) 1.27.0-1.0ubuntu1.1 libcares2 1.27.0-1.0ubuntu1.1 Sep 18, 2026
libcares2 · Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS (resolute) 1.34.6-1ubuntu0.2 libcares2 1.34.6-1ubuntu0.2 Sep 18, 2026

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