CVE-2026-54478
LOWDNS Cookie bypass when combined with proxy-protocol use
Title source: cnaDescription
In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.18.0 up to and including 1.25.1, when Unbound listens on a 'proxy-protocol-port' interface with 'answer-cookie: yes', the RFC 9018 server-cookie SipHash is computed over the proxy's wire address instead of the PROXYv2-declared client. One server cookie obtained through a given proxy node therefore validates for every PROXYv2-declared source behind that node. On a UDP+proxy-protocol front, an off-path attacker can harvest one cookie with a single legitimate query, then replay it under any spoofed source and pass DNS Cookie checks that were deployed to defeat this in the first place.
References (1)
Core 1
Core References
Vendor Advisory vendor-advisory
https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2026-54478.txt
Scores
CVSS v3
3.7
EPSS
0.0018
EPSS Percentile
7.6%
Attack Vector
NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
CISA SSVC
Vulnrichment
Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical Impact
partial
Details
CWE
CWE-290
Status
published
Products (2)
NLnet Labs/Unbound
1.18.0 - 1.25.2
nlnetlabs/unbound
1.18.0 - 1.25.2
Published
Jul 22, 2026
Tracked Since
Jul 22, 2026