CVE-2023-2828 | named's configured cache size limit can be significantly exceeded

Every `named` instance configured to run as a recursive resolver maintains a cache database holding the responses to the queries it has recently sent to authoritative servers. The size limit for that cache database can be configured using the `max-cache-size` statement in the configuration file; it defaults to 90% of the total amount of memory available on the host. When the size of the cache reaches 7/8 of the configured limit, a cache-cleaning algorithm starts to remove expired and/or least-recently used RRsets from the cache, to keep memory use below the configured limit. It has been discovered that the effectiveness of the cache-cleaning algorithm used in `named` can be severely diminished by querying the resolver for specific RRsets in a certain order, effectively allowing the configured `max-cache-size` limit to be significantly exceeded. This issue affects BIND 9 versions 9.11.0 through 9.16.41, 9.18.0 through 9.18.15, 9.19.0 through 9.19.13, 9.11.3-S1 through 9.16.41-S1, and 9.18.11-S1 through 9.18.15-S1.

Published: 2023-06-21 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-2828 is rated Moderate Risk (61.4/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.78%). Mandatory action: 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-2023-2828

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 2026-06-22 3.39% 3.78% +0.39%
2 2026-06-15 0.90% 3.39% +2.48%
3 2026-06-07 0.90%

Full EPSS history (60 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-2828

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-2828

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-2828

vendor priority summary link
alpine high CVE-2023-2828: 1 source package rows (bind); 124 state rows across 5 repos (3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 0, open 124. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-2828
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-2828 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (bind9), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-2828
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-2828
suse high https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-2828/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-2828 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (bind9, bind9-libs, isc-dhcp), 37 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 13, DNE 8, needs-triage 6, ignored 5, not-affected 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-2828

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-2828

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
isc bind >= 9.11.0, <= 9.16.41 cpe:2.3:a:isc:bind:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
isc bind >= 9.11.3, <= 9.16.41 cpe:2.3:a:isc:bind:*:*:*:*:supported_preview:*:*:*
isc bind >= 9.18.0, <= 9.18.15 cpe:2.3:a:isc:bind:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
isc bind >= 9.18.11, <= 9.18.15 cpe:2.3:a:isc:bind:*:*:*:*:supported_preview:*:*:*
isc bind >= 9.19.0, <= 9.19.13 cpe:2.3:a:isc:bind:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 37 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 38 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:vmware_vsphere:*:*
netapp h500s_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h700s_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410s_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410c_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410c_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h300s_firmware cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-2828

cvelogic Threat Intelligence