PowerDNS Recursor up to 5.4.2 Authoritative

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
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CTI Interest Score
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5.2$0-$5k1.25-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in PowerDNS Recursor up to 5.4.2 and classified as problematic. This affects an unknown part of the component Authoritative Handler. The manipulation leads to an unknown weakness. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-42389. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in PowerDNS Recursor up to 5.4.2. It has been rated as problematic. This issue affects an unknown part of the component Authoritative Handler. Impacted is integrity. The summary by CVE is:

This fix provides extra hardening for the 5.4.x branch by doing extra validation of incoming answers from authoritative servers.

The weakness was shared by Xiang Li, Mingming Zhang, Fasheng Miao and Zuyao Xu. It is possible to read the advisory at docs.powerdns.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-42389 since 04/27/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available.

Upgrading to version 5.4.3 eliminates this vulnerability.

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.2

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.1
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 5.3
CNA Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Unknown
CWE: Unknown
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Recursor 5.4.3

Timelineinfo

04/27/2026 CVE reserved
06/25/2026 +59 days Advisory disclosed
06/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
06/25/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: docs.powerdns.com
Researcher: Xiang Li, Mingming Zhang, Fasheng Miao, Zuyao Xu
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-42389 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-42389
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-373859

Entryinfo

Created: 06/25/2026 16:42
Changes: 06/25/2026 16:42 (63)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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