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AuthoritativeApplication · Powerdns

CVE-2026-33260

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.9.13 / 2.0.4 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
An attacker can send a web request that causes unlimited memory allocation in the internal web server, leading to a denial of service. The internal web server is disabled by default.

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 confidence

This is a denial-of-service vulnerability in an internal web server where specially crafted web requests can trigger unlimited memory allocation, causing the server to exhaust available memory and crash. The internal web server is disabled by default.

MitigationEnsure the internal web server remains disabled unless explicitly required. If enabled, implement request size limits, memory constraints, and input validation to prevent unbounded memory allocation.

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
AuthoritativeApplication
Affected:>= 4.9.0, < 4.9.14>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.4
DnsdistApplication
Affected:>= 1.9.0, < 1.9.13>= 2.0.0, < 2.0.4
RecursorApplication
Affected:>= 5.2.0, < 5.2.9>= 5.3.0, < 5.3.6= 5.4.0

CVSS 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify which Powerdns product is running
    Run 'pdns --version' for Authoritative, 'dnsdist --version' for Dnsdist, or 'rec_control --version' for Recursor to determine the product name and exact version number
    Affected if Product is Powerdns Authoritative, Dnsdist, or Recursor and version falls within affected ranges (Auth: >=4.9.0 <4.9.14 or >=5.0.0 <5.0.4; Dnsdist: >=1.9.0 <1.9.13 or >=2.0.0 <2.0.4; Recursor: >=5.2.0 <5.2.9 or >=5.3.0 <5.3.6 or =5.4.0)
  2. Check if the internal web server is enabled
    Inspect the product configuration file (pdns.conf for Authoritative, dnsdist.conf for Dnsdist, recursor.conf for Recursor) for the 'webserver' setting. Also check for any 'api-key' or 'webserver-address' directives that indicate the web server is configured and running
    Affected if The webserver directive is set to 'yes' or 'webserver-address' is defined, indicating the internal web server is active
  3. Verify the vulnerability condition
    If both conditions are true (version is in affected range AND web server is enabled), the environment is vulnerable to the DoS via specially crafted web requests causing unlimited memory allocation
    Affected if The installed version is within the affected ranges AND the internal web server is enabled and accessible

You are affected only if you are running a vulnerable version of Powerdns (Auth, Dnsdist, or Recursor) AND have explicitly enabled the internal web server, as it is disabled by default.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.9.13 / 2.0.4 / 4.9.14 or later
Fixed in 1.9.132.0.44.9.14
Interim mitigation

Ensure the internal web server remains disabled unless explicitly required. If enabled, implement request size limits, memory constraints, and input validation to prevent unbounded memory allocation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Authoritative: 4.9.14 or 5.0.4+ | Dnsdist: 1.9.13 or 2.0.4+ | Recursor: 5.2.9, 5.3.6, or 5.4.1+

  1. 1. Identify which PowerDNS product(s) are running in your environment (Authoritative, Dnsdist, or Recursor).
  2. 2. For PowerDNS Authoritative: upgrade to version 4.9.14 or 5.0.4 (or later).
  3. 3. For PowerDNS Dnsdist: upgrade to version 1.9.13 or 2.0.4 (or later).
  4. 4. For PowerDNS Recursor: upgrade to version 5.2.9, 5.3.6, or 5.4.1+ (or later).
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the internal web server configuration if enabled, though it remains disabled by default.
Caveat Standard upgrade considerations apply - test in staging before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Authoritative Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-33260 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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