CVE-2026-33489
highpriority · track · 30OT risk · elevatedEPSS 0.004 · 34 %ileDEEURUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
CoreDNS is a DNS server that chains plugins. In versions prior to 1.14.3, the transfer plugin can select the wrong ACL stanza when both a parent zone and a more-specific subzone are configured. The longestMatch() function in plugin/transfer/transfer.go uses a lexicographic string comparison instead of an actual longest-suffix match to select the winning zone. As a result, a permissive parent-zone transfer rule can override a restrictive subzone rule depending on zone name ordering (e.g., "example.org." > "a.example.org." lexicographically). This allows an unauthorized remote client to perform AXFR/IXFR for the subzone and retrieve its full zone contents. This issue has been fixed in version 1.14.3.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 4.6–8.2
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
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affected products (10)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (3)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- WID-SEC-W-2026-1283CoreDNS: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichenDeutsch2026-04-26csaf · cert_bundDE
Ein entfernter, anonymer Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in CoreDNS ausnutzen, um Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen und so vertrauliche Informationen offenzulegen oder einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand zu verursachen.
- GHSA-h8mm-c463-wjq3CoreDNS' transfer stanza selection uses lexicographic compare (subzone ACL bypass)2026-04-28ghsa · osvUS
### Summary CoreDNS' transfer plugin can select the wrong ACL stanza when both a parent zone and a more-specific subzone are configured. A permissive parent-zone transfer rule can override a restrictive subzone rule (name-dependent), allowing an unauthorized client to perform AXFR/IXFR for the subzone and retrieve its zone contents. ### Details In plugin/transfer/transfer.go, stanza selection is implemented by longestMatch(), which is documented as "longest zone match wins", but it actually chooses the winner via a lexicographic string comparison: - zone := "" // longest zone match wins (plugin/transfer/transfer.go) - if z > zone { zone = z; x = xfr } (plugin/transfer/transfer.go) So, a parent zone like example.org. can beat a child zone like a.example.org. purely due to lexicographic ordering ("example.org." > "a.example.org."), even though the child zone is the longer/more specific suffix match. The bypass is data-dependent (some child labels will win, some will lose), making it operationally non-intuitive. ### PoC 1. Adjust COREDNS_BIN in the PoC to point at right path (see the top-level const definitions for tunables as well) 2. Run python3 ./acl-repro.py 3. Expected output: *** Baseline (only subzone transfer rule) *** axfr a.example.org.: rcode=5 ancount=0 (expected REFUSED=5) *** Candidate (add permissive parent transfer rule) *** axfr a.example.org.: rcode=0 ancount=5 (expected NOERROR=0 with ancount>0) *** OK *** Subzone transfer ACL bypass reproduced: adding a permissive parent-zone stanza can override a stricter child-zone stanza due to lexicographic zone selection. ### Impact Unauthorized zone transfer can expose full zone contents to a remote network client that was intended to be denied by a subzone-specific transfer policy.
- GO-2026-5417CoreDNS' transfer stanza selection uses lexicographic compare (subzone ACL bypass) in github.com/coredns/coredns2026-06-25vendor · osvUS
CoreDNS' transfer stanza selection uses lexicographic compare (subzone ACL bypass) in github.com/coredns/coredns
also known as (6)
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sources
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references (6)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/Patchcnnvd
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-33489cnnvd
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.3enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/security/advisories/GHSA-h8mm-c463-wjq3enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.3Release Notesnvd
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/security/advisories/GHSA-h8mm-c463-wjq3ExploitVendor Advisorynvd
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