CVE-2026-12969

Dnsmasq: dnsmasq: out-of-bounds read in find_soa() due to missing extrabytes validation

MEDIUM
5.3
CVSS Score
Published: June 23, 2026 at 01:28 PM UTC
Updated: August 31, 2026 at 12:17 PM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsEnterprise LinuxDnsmasq

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Severity
MEDIUM5.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

An out-of-bounds read vulnerability exists in dnsmasq's find_soa() function in src/rfc1035.c. When parsing NS section records, extract_name() is called with extrabytes=0, failing to validate that 10 additional bytes exist for fixed-length DNS record fields. A remote attacker controlling a DNS zone can exploit this via a crafted NXDOMAIN response to cause a 10-byte heap out-of-bounds read, potentially accessing stale data from prior transactions.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

Vendor states this is fixed in 6 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 9 (unaffected)
v < 2.93
Affected range stops below 2.93, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (2)

VDB Entryx_refsource_REDHATMitigationVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12969
Issue Trackingx_refsource_REDHATVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2491663

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5.3MEDIUMredhat
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
LOW
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-125

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