CVE-2022-26818
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedWindows DNS Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceWindows DNS Server contains a remote code execution vulnerability that could allow an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. The vulnerability exists in the DNS server component and could be exploited by sending specially crafted DNS queries to a vulnerable Windows DNS Server.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= r2all versions= 20h2all versionsall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify DNS Server role is installedOpen Server Manager and go to Manage > Add Roles and Features, or run 'Get-WindowsFeature DNS' in PowerShell to check if the DNS server role is presentAffected if DNS Server role is installed on the system
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Confirm Windows Server version and buildRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the exact Windows Server versionAffected if Version is Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016 (any version including 20H2), Windows Server 2019, or Windows Server 2022
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Check if DNS Server service is runningOpen Services console and locate the 'DNS Server' service, or run 'Get-Service DNS' in PowerShellAffected if DNS Server service is running and accepting queries
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Verify April 2022 security updates are installedCheck Windows Update history for April 2022 security updates, or run 'Get-HotFix' and look for security updates released in April 2022 that address DNS server vulnerabilitiesAffected if The system is missing the April 2022 security update for this vulnerability
If the DNS Server role is enabled on an affected Windows Server version (2012 R2, 2016, 2019, or 2022) and the April 2022 security update is not installed, the system is vulnerable to remote code execution via specially crafted DNS queries.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the Microsoft security update released in April 2022 for this vulnerability. Until patched, monitor DNS server logs for suspicious query patterns and restrict network access to DNS servers to trusted endpoints only.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-26818 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-26818 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data