CVE-2026-123588
Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.
Description
The recursive resolver in Hickory DNS (all versions of the hickory-recursor crate, and hickory-resolver 0.26.0 before 0.26.2) caches an empty connection pool when it follows a referral with no glue records and all queries for the name servers' IP addresses fail. An attacker able to spoof DNS responses can make these lookups fail, causing all subsequent queries for the affected zone to fail until the cache entry expires or is evicted.
Severity
HIGH
CVSS score
8.7
(v4.0)
Vulnerability status
Received
Source identifier
Published
2026-11-08 02:16:52.790000
Last modified
2026-11-08 02:16:52.790000
View original CVE JSON
{
"id": "CVE-2026-123588",
"sourceIdentifier": "[email protected]",
"published": "2026-11-08T02:16:52.790",
"lastModified": "2026-11-08T02:16:52.790",
"vulnStatus": "Received",
"cveTags": [],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "The recursive resolver in Hickory DNS (all versions of the hickory-recursor crate, and hickory-resolver 0.26.0 before 0.26.2) caches an empty connection pool when it follows a referral with no glue records and all queries for the name servers' IP addresses fail. An attacker able to spoof DNS responses can make these lookups fail, causing all subsequent queries for the affected zone to fail until the cache entry expires or is evicted."
}
],
"affected": [
{
"source": "[email protected]",
"affectedData": [
{
"vendor": "hickory-dns",
"product": "hickory-dns",
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"packageURL": "pkg:cargo/hickory-recursor",
"versions": [
{
"version": "0",
"lessThanOrEqual": "0.26.0-alpha.1",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "affected"
}
]
},
{
"vendor": "hickory-dns",
"product": "hickory-dns",
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"packageURL": "pkg:cargo/hickory-resolver",
"versions": [
{
"version": "0.26.0",
"lessThan": "0.26.2",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "affected"
},
{
"version": "0.26.2",
"versionType": "semver",
"status": "unaffected"
}
]
}
]
}
],
"metrics": {
"cvssMetricV40": [
{
"source": "[email protected]",
"type": "Secondary",
"cvssData": {
"version": "4.0",
"vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X",
"baseScore": 8.7,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"attackVector": "NETWORK",
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"attackRequirements": "NONE",
"privilegesRequired": "NONE",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
"vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
"vulnAvailabilityImpact": "HIGH",
"subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
"subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
"subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
"exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
"confidentialityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
"integrityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
"availabilityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedAttackVector": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedAttackComplexity": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedAttackRequirements": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedPrivilegesRequired": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedUserInteraction": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedVulnConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedVulnIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedVulnAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedSubConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedSubIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
"modifiedSubAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
"Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
"Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
"Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
"valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
"vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED",
"providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED"
}
}
],
"cvssMetricV31": [
{
"source": "[email protected]",
"type": "Primary",
"cvssData": {
"version": "3.1",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"baseScore": 7.5,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"attackVector": "NETWORK",
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"privilegesRequired": "NONE",
"userInteraction": "NONE",
"scope": "UNCHANGED",
"confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
"integrityImpact": "NONE",
"availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
},
"exploitabilityScore": 3.9,
"impactScore": 3.6
}
]
},
"weaknesses": [
{
"source": "[email protected]",
"type": "Primary",
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-754"
}
]
}
],
"references": [
{
"url": "https://github.com/hickory-dns/hickory-dns/security/advisories/GHSA-9px7-7m25-f6q2",
"source": "[email protected]"
},
{
"url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/hickory-dns-recursive-resolver-denial-of-service-via-cached-empty-connection-pool",
"source": "[email protected]"
}
]
}