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F5 Networks BIG-IP : NLnet Labs Unbound vulnerability (K000163141)

high Nessus Plugin ID 341736

Synopsis

The remote device is missing a vendor-supplied security patch.

Description

The version of F5 Networks BIG-IP installed on the remote host is prior to tested version. It is, therefore, affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the K000163141 advisory.

 NLnet Labs Unbound up to and including version 1.25.0 has a denial of service vulnerability in the DNSSEC validator that can lead to a crash given malicious upstream replies. When Unbound constructs chase-reply messages for validation, the code uses the wrong counter to calculate write offsets for ADDITIONAL section rrsets. DNAME duplication could increase the ANSWER section count and authority filtering could decrease the AUTHORITY section count and create an uninitialized array slot. Combining these two, the validator later dereferences this uninitialized pointer, causing an immediate process crash. An adversary controlling a DNSSEC-signed domain can trigger this bug with a single query by configuring a DNAME chain with unsigned CNAMEs and a response containing unsigned AUTHORITY records alongside signed ADDITIONAL glue records. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix to use the proper counters to calculate the write offsets.(CVE-2026-42959)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the F5 Networks BIG-IP security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

The vendor has acknowledged the vulnerability, but no solution has been provided.
Refer to the vendor for remediation guidance.

See Also

https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000163141

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 341736

File Name: f5_bigip_SOL000163141.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Published: 8/31/2026

Updated: 8/31/2026

Configuration: Enable paranoid mode

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3

Percentile: 23.75

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 5.8

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-42959

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.5

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

CVSS v4

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.7

Threat Score: 6.6

Threat Vector: CVSS:4.0/E:U

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_domain_name_system, cpe:/a:f5:big-ip_global_traffic_manager, cpe:/h:f5:big-ip

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/BIG-IP/hotfix, Host/BIG-IP/modules, Host/BIG-IP/version, Settings/ParanoidReport

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/20/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-42959