CVE-2023-26249

Knot Resolver before 5.6.0 enables attackers to consume its resources, launching amplification attacks and potentially causing a denial of service. Specifically, a single client query may lead to a hundred TCP connection attempts if a DNS server closes connections without providing a response.

Published: 2023-02-21 Last update: 2025-03-14 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-26249 is rated Moderate Risk (50.8/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.39%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-26249

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-02 0.54% 0.39% -0.15%
2 2026-02-22 0.27% 0.54% +0.26%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.27% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-26249

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-26249

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-26249

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-26249 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (knot-resolver), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-26249
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-26249 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (knot-resolver), 13 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 6, needed 4, ignored 2, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-26249

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-26249

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
nic knot_resolver < 5.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:nic:knot_resolver:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-26249

cvelogic Threat Intelligence