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CVE-2026-33489

CoreDNS transfer plugin subzone ACL bypass via lexicographic zone comparison

Published: May 5, 2026Updated: Jul 24, 2026 Sources: CVE List NVDCWE-863
7.5HIGH
NVD MITRE
EPSS Score
0.4%
Top 68.4%
CISA KEV
Not in KEV
Exploits
No Known Exploits
Remediation
Patch Available
Self-Check
OpenVAS

Description

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.

No summary for this CVE yet.

CVSS Vector Breakdown

AV:NAC:LPR:NUI:NS:UC:HI:NA:N
Exploitability
AV:NAttack Vector
Network
AC:LAttack Complexity
Low
PR:NPrivileges Required
None
UI:NUser Interaction
None
Scope
S:UScope
Unchanged
Impact
C:HConfidentiality
High
I:NIntegrity
None
A:NAvailability
None
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Weaknesses

CWE-863

Affected Products

coredns.io
oss-projectaka coredns
corednsOn-prem
Networking Infrastructure / dns-dhcp-ntp
and 1 more affected products View all →

Exploitability

Official Patch Available
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Attack Graph

Products CVE Techniques Tactics

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MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques
Initial Access
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References

https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.3
github.com
https://github.com/coredns/coredns/security/advisories/GHSA-h8mm-c463-wjq3
github.com

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