CVE-2026-56444: In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.20.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when Unbound is configured with 'serve-expired: yes' and 'serve-expired-client-timeout > discard-timeout > 0' (contrary to

mediumCVSS 5.9CVE-2026-56444

In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.20.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when Unbound is configured with 'serve-expired: yes' and 'serve-expired-client-timeout > discard-timeout > 0' (contrary to the suggested values), the discard-timeout branch during the serve expired logic drops an aged client reply without performing the correct accounting for the number of reply addresses for the query. Other identical branches outside of serve expired perform the correct decrement. Since the counter is never decremented in such scenario, it can reach the maximum limit and new clients for duplicate in-flight queries are silently dropped resulting in degradation of resolution service. A malicious actor can exploit the vulnerability by querying the resolver for a client-controlled slow-on-demand authoritative zone that can drive the counter past the threshold. Shipped defaults for 'serve-expired-client-timeout: 1800' and 'discard-timeout: 1900' make the branch unreachable.

Details

Source: NVD Recent CVEs (US · database · site)
Severity: medium — CVSS 5.9
Published: 2026-07-22
Last updated: 2026-07-24
Exploitation: Not in CISA KEV at last sync

Original advisory: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-56444

Exploitation outlook

EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.

Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-564440.24% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 15% of all scored CVEs.

Referenced CVEs

CVE	CSIRTS overview	External
CVE-2026-56444	coverage & exploitation status	NVD · CVE.org

Same CVEs, other sources

How other CERTs, PSIRTs and databases cover the vulnerabilities in this advisory.

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