Hickory DNS NSEC input validation

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.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
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CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
9.2$0-$5k0.39+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as very critical has been identified in Hickory DNS. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component NSEC Handler. Executing a manipulation can lead to input validation. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-123596. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Hickory DNS (unknown version). This vulnerability affects an unknown code block of the component NSEC Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a input validation vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-20. The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Hickory DNS hickory-proto through 0.26.0-alpha.1 and hickory-net 0.26.0-beta.1 before 0.26.2 contain a DNSSEC validation flaw in the validating recursor's NSEC handler that accepts parent-side ancestor-delegation NSEC records as proof of nonexistence for names below the zone cut. An on-path attacker, rogue parent nameserver, or attacker winning a port and TXID race can deliver one forged NXDOMAIN response built from genuinely signed parent NSEC records, causing authenticated denial of existing child-zone names cached for the negative TTL.

The advisory is available at github.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-123596 since 11/06/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/08/2026).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Name

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA CVSS-B Score: 🔒
CNA CVSS-BT Score: 🔒
CNA Vector: 🔒

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.2

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 8.8
CNA Vector (VulnCheck): 🔒

CVSSv2info

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Input validation
CWE: CWE-20
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: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Timelineinfo

11/06/2026 CVE reserved
11/08/2026 +2 days Advisory disclosed
11/08/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
11/08/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: github.com
Status: Not defined

CNA: VulnCheck
CVE: CVE-2026-123596 (🔒)

GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-123596
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-432766

Entryinfo

Created: 11/08/2026 03:34
Changes: 11/08/2026 03:34 (72)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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