CVE-2026-78227

Use-after-free in DoQ stream output buffer on reset re-transmission

CVE-2026-78227 is fixed in unbound on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-78227, released September 19, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

Routine
CVSS
6.5
Moderate
Exploitation
None reported
No vendor assessment
CISA KEV
Not listed
Not in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
EPSS
0.0034
27th percentile

NLnet Labs Unbound 1.22.0 up to and including 1.26.1, has a use-after-free vulnerability when compiled for DNS-over-QUIC support with '--with-libngtcp2'. Each DoQ stream owns an output buffer that holds the DNS response. ngtcp2's retransmission buffer keeps a shallow pointer into the output buffer for as long as a STREAM frame may be resent. On a client RESET_STREAM, the output buffer is freed but ngtcp2 still holds the matching retransmission entries. The next PTO timeout makes ngtcp2 re-encode the STREAM frame and copy from the freed buffer. A malicious actor that can query Unbound over DoQ and that withholds ACKs, sends RESET_STREAM, and waits for PTO, reaches this use-after-free with no privilege. This leads to retransmissions against freed memory and eventually an abnormal server exit under a 20-query spray.

Where it's fixed

ProductFixed inFixReleased
Linux
unbound · Debian 13.5 (trixie) 1.26.1-0+deb13u1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-78227 Sep 19, 2026
unbound · Debian 14 1.26.1-1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-78227 Sep 19, 2026
unbound · opensuse-leap 16.0 1.26.1-160000.1.1 OPENSUSE-SU-2026:22082-1 Nov 7, 2026
unbound · sles 15.6 1.26.1-150600.23.24.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4620-1 Nov 7, 2026
unbound · sles 15.7 1.26.1-150600.23.24.1 SUSE-SU-2026:4620-1 Nov 7, 2026
unbound · sles 16.0 1.26.1-160000.1.1 SUSE-SU-2026:24226-1 Nov 7, 2026

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