Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-30871 is a critical-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Openwrt Openwrt. Its CVSS base score is 9.5 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 34% 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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-2026-30871 is a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-121) in the mdns daemon of the OpenWrt Project, a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. The flaw affects versions prior to 24.10.6 and 25.12.1 and resides in the parse_question function. It is triggered by PTR queries for reverse DNS domains such as .in-addr.arpa and .ip6.arpa. DNS packets received on UDP port 5353 are processed by dn_expand into an 8096-byte global buffer (name_buffer), which is then copied via an unbounded strcpy into a fixed 256-byte stack buffer. The overflow occurs because dn_expand expands non-printable ASCII bytes (e.g., 0x01) into multi-character octal representations (e.g., \001), inflating the name beyond the stack buffer's capacity.
The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating it is exploitable over the network with low complexity and no privileges or user interaction required. Any remote attacker can send a crafted multicast DNS packet to UDP port 5353, leveraging the normal mDNS processing flow to trigger the stack buffer overflow. Successful exploitation could allow arbitrary code execution, potentially leading to full compromise of the affected embedded device with high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
OpenWrt has addressed the issue in versions 24.10.6 and 25.12.1, as detailed in the project's release notes and security advisory (GHSA-7c3j-f7w2-p8f6). Security practitioners should update affected devices to these patched versions to mitigate the risk.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-13247
Vulnerability Data
OpenWrt Project is a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. In versions prior to 24.10.6 and 25.12.1, the mdns daemon has a Stack-based Buffer Overflow vulnerability in the parse_question function. The issue is triggered by PTR queries for reverse DNS…
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domains (.in-addr.arpa and .ip6.arpa). DNS packets received on UDP port 5353 are expanded by dn_expand into an 8096-byte global buffer (name_buffer), which is then copied via an unbounded strcpy into a fixed 256-byte stack buffer when handling TYPE_PTR queries. The overflow is possible because dn_expand converts non-printable ASCII bytes (e.g., 0x01) into multi-character octal representations (e.g., \001), significantly inflating the expanded name beyond the stack buffer's capacity. A crafted DNS packet can exploit this expansion behavior to overflow the stack buffer, making the vulnerability reachable through normal multicast DNS packet processing. This issue has been fixed in versions 24.10.6 and 25.12.1.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
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Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and analysis can discover stack-buffer overflows before deployment.
Input validation directly stops untrusted data from exceeding stack buffer bounds.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the ability to execute injected code after a stack overflow.
Secure-engineering principles include bounds-checked coding and safe buffer handling that avoid introducing the flaw.
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.
Secure-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.
Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.
Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.
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.
Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.
Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.
Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.
Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.
Change-management gates can enforce security reviews that catch buffer issues.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248594 OL 8 must implement address space layout randomization (ASLR) to protect its memory from unauthorized code execution. prevents CWE-121
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
- V-271452 OL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-121