Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-24028

Memory Safety in Powerdns Dnsdist 1.9.0 – 1.9.12

Published
31 March 2026
Modified
25 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.010 61th percentile
Risk Priority 46 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-24028 is a medium-severity Buffer Over-read (CWE-126) vulnerability in Powerdns Dnsdist. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique OS Credential Dumping (T1003); ranked in the top 39% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-24028 is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-126) affecting dnsdist, the DNS load balancer from PowerDNS. The issue arises when custom Lua code in dnsdist uses the newDNSPacketOverlay function to parse DNS packets, enabling an attacker to trigger the vulnerability by sending a crafted DNS response packet. Published on 2026-03-31, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L), indicating medium severity primarily due to low-impact availability effects.

An unauthenticated attacker with network access to the dnsdist instance can exploit this by transmitting a specially crafted DNS response packet. Successful exploitation triggers an out-of-bounds read, which may cause a crash resulting in denial of service or allow access to unrelated memory, potentially leading to information disclosure.

Mitigation details are provided in the official PowerDNS security advisory for dnsdist at https://www.dnsdist.org/security-advisories/powerdns-advisory-for-dnsdist-2026-02.html.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An attacker might be able to trigger an out-of-bounds read by sending a crafted DNS response packet, when custom Lua code uses newDNSPacketOverlay to parse DNS packets. The out-of-bounds read might trigger a crash, leading to a denial of service,…

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or access unrelated memory, leading to potential information disclosure.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
T1552 Unsecured Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may search compromised systems to find and obtain insecurely stored credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-33602Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-27854Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-33598Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-33599Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-27853Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-24030Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-33593Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-33595Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-33254Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist
CVE-2026-33594Same product: Powerdns Dnsdist

Affected Assets

powerdns
dnsdist
1.9.0 — 1.9.12 · 2.0.0 — 2.0.3

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (static analysis, fuzzing, bounds checking tests) directly finds buffer over-read flaws.

Engineering principles such as memory-safe design and bounds-checked abstractions structurally stop introduction of out-of-bounds reads.

Process isolation limits the blast radius of an over-read to the compromised domain.

Input validation enforces length and index constraints that prevent many externally triggered over-reads.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices directly prevent introduction of buffer over-read weaknesses.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover buffer over-read flaws via scanning or review.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software removes known instances of buffer over-read bugs.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect buffer over-reads before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and bounds checking that can prevent buffer over-reads.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and bounds-checking rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and bounds-checking design choices.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly require bounds-checked buffer access, mitigating over-reads.

References