CVE-2026-123594

Description

Hickory DNS hickory-proto through 0.26.0-alpha.1 and hickory-net 0.26.0-beta.1 before 0.26.2 contain an NSEC validation flaw that returns a secure proof for NXDOMAIN responses when the covering NSEC's Next Domain Name is a strict descendant of the query name, which actually proves the name exists as an empty non-terminal. On-path attackers can flip the unsigned rcode of a genuine signed NODATA response from NOERROR to NXDOMAIN, causing validators to accept forged nonexistence of the name.

Overview

State: PUBLISHED
Assigner (CNA): VulnCheck
CVSS severity: MEDIUM
CVSS score: 6.3 / 10
CVSS vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Effective score: 6.3 / 10 MEDIUM source: CNA overview
CWE(s): CWE-345
Reserved: 2026-11-06
Published: 2026-11-08 01:38 UTC
Last updated: 2026-11-08 01:38 UTC
Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2026/123xxx/CVE-2026-123594.json

European Union Vulnerability Database ENISA EUVD

ENISA's official EU repository for curated vulnerability intelligence. Carries a separate identifier (EUVD-YYYY-NNNN) and frequently exposes an earlier-published description + CVSS than NVD does.

EUVD ID: EUVD-2026-119353

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Affected products (2)

Vendor	Product	Versions	Platforms
hickory-dns	hickory-dns	`0` (affected)	—
hickory-dns	hickory-dns	`0.26.0-beta.1` (affected), `0.26.2` (unaffected)	—

Vendor references (2)

References embedded in the original CVE record by the assigning CNA.

GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-86vr-jm6c-7cpg) vendor-advisory
VulnCheck Advisory: Hickory DNS through 0.26.0-alpha.1 DNSSEC NSEC Validation Bypass for Empty Non-Terminals third-party-advisory

Web references (0)

DuckDuckGo results ranked by threat-intel / vendor advisory domains. Generated by the 🔎 Find references (web) button above — same flow as the Remediations search.

No web references attached yet.

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Raw JSON

The full cvelistV5 record. Download as CVE-2026-123594.json.

{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageURL": "pkg:cargo/hickory-proto",
          "product": "hickory-dns",
          "vendor": "hickory-dns",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "0.26.0-alpha.1",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageURL": "pkg:cargo/hickory-net",
          "product": "hickory-dns",
          "vendor": "hickory-dns",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "0.26.2",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0.26.0-beta.1",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0.26.2",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "reporter",
          "value": "qifan-sailboat"
        }
      ],
      "datePublic": "2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z",
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Hickory DNS hickory-proto through 0.26.0-alpha.1 and hickory-net 0.26.0-beta.1 before 0.26.2 contain an NSEC validation flaw that returns a secure proof for NXDOMAIN responses when the covering NSEC's Next Domain Name is a strict descendant of the query name, which actually proves the name exists as an empty non-terminal. On-path attackers can flip the unsigned rcode of a genuine signed NODATA response from NOERROR to NXDOMAIN, causing validators to accept forged nonexistence of the name."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV4_0": {
            "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackRequirements": "PRESENT",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "baseScore": 6.3,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
            "version": "4.0",
            "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "LOW",
            "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "vulnIntegrityImpact": "LOW",
            "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED"
          },
          "format": "CVSS"
        },
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "availabilityImpact": "LOW",
            "baseScore": 4.8,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "integrityImpact": "LOW",
            "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
            "scope": "UNCHANGED",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "format": "CVSS"
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-345",
              "description": "Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-11-08T01:38:24.397Z",
        "orgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
        "shortName": "VulnCheck"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "name": "GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-86vr-jm6c-7cpg)",
          "tags": [
            "vendor-advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/hickory-dns/hickory-dns/security/advisories/GHSA-86vr-jm6c-7cpg"
        },
        {
          "name": "VulnCheck Advisory: Hickory DNS through 0.26.0-alpha.1 DNSSEC NSEC Validation Bypass for Empty Non-Terminals",
          "tags": [
            "third-party-advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/hickory-dns-through-0.26.0-alpha.1-dnssec-nsec-validation-bypass-for-empty-non-terminals"
        }
      ],
      "title": "Hickory DNS through 0.26.0-alpha.1 DNSSEC NSEC Validation Bypass for Empty Non-Terminals",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "vulncheck-endgame"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "83251b91-4cc7-4094-a5c7-464a1b83ea10",
    "assignerShortName": "VulnCheck",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-123594",
    "datePublished": "2026-11-08T01:38:24.397Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-11-06T00:57:31.045Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-11-08T01:38:24.397Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}