CVE-2026-41292
Published: 20 May 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-41292 is a high-severity Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity (CWE-407) vulnerability in Nlnetlabs Unbound. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, ranked at the 15.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Threat & Defense Details
Likely Mitigating ControlsAI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Requires throttling and limits on resource allocation to prevent exhaustion.
This control implements explicit throttling on session allocation, addressing the weakness of allocating resources without limits.
Plan testing exercises resource allocation limits and throttling during simulated failures, directly addressing weaknesses that allow unbounded resource use.
Contingency plan updates ensure recovery strategies address unbounded resource allocation, making it harder for attackers to exploit lack of throttling to cause prolonged outages.
Provides continuity when unbounded resource allocation at the primary site leads to exhaustion and downtime.
Alternate services allow operations to continue when primary allocation of resources lacks limits or throttling.
Explicit planning of security-related actions requires defining limits, windows, and resource allocations, making allocation without throttling far less likely.
Measures of performance include tracking allocation behavior and throttling effectiveness, reducing the window for resource exhaustion attacks.
NVD Description
NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including version 1.25.0 is vulnerable to a degradation of service attack related to parsing long lists of incoming EDNS options. An adversary sending queries with too many EDNS options can hold Unbound threads hostage…
more
while they are parsing and creating internal data structures for the options. Coordinated attacks can result in degradation and/or denial of service. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix to limit acceptable incoming EDNS options (100).
Deeper analysisAI
Automated synthesis unavailable for this CVE.
Details
- CWE(s)
Affected Products
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-31078