CVE-2016-2120
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0...
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
- Record
CVE-2016-2120- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-190
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2016-3223
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
- Record
EUVD-2016-3223- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-mq8j-4764-x4h8
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0...
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
- Record
GHSA-mq8j-4764-x4h8- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-190
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
- Record
CVE-2016-2120- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 4.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-190
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
- Record
CVE-2016-2120- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2016-2120
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2016-2120- CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2016-2120
An issue has been found in PowerDNS Authoritative Server versions up to and including 3.4.10, 4.0.1 allowing an authorized user to crash the server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control then sending a DNS query for that record. The issue is due to an integer overflow when checking if the content of the record matches the expected size, allowing an attacker to cause a read past the buffer boundary.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2120- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 3.0
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2017-0033 No score
Updated pdns packages fix security vulnerabilities
Mathieu Lafon discovered that pdns does not properly validate records in zones. An authorized user can take advantage of this flaw to crash server by inserting a specially crafted record in a zone under their control and then sending a DNS query for that record (CVE-2016-2120).
Florian Heinz and Martin Kluge reported that pdns parses all records present in a query regardless of whether they are needed or even legitimate, allowing a remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause an abnormal CPU usage load on the pdns server, resulting in a partial denial of service if the system becomes overloaded (CVE-2016-7068).
Mongo discovered that the webserver in pdns is susceptible to a denial-of-service vulnerability. A remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause a denial of service by opening a large number of f TCP connections to the web server (CVE-2016-7072).
Mongo discovered that pdns does not sufficiently validate TSIG signatures, allowing an attacker in position of man-in-the-middle to alter the content of an AXFR (CVE-2016-7073, CVE-2016-7074).
- Record
MGASA-2017-0033- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:11156-1 No score
pdns-4.5.1-1.5 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the pdns-4.5.1-1.5 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:11156-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:11157-1 No score
pdns-recursor-4.5.5-1.3 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the pdns-recursor-4.5.5-1.3 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:11157-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
pdnsDebian:12 |
before 4.0.2-1 | 4.0.2-1 |
pdnsDebian:13 |
before 4.0.2-1 | 4.0.2-1 |
pdnsDebian:14 |
before 4.0.2-1 | 4.0.2-1 |
pdnsDebian:7 |
before 3.1-4.1+deb7u3, plus listed versions 3.1-43.1-4.13.1-4.1+deb7u13.1-4.1+deb7u2 |
3.1-4.1+deb7u3 |
pdnsDebian:8 |
before 3.4.1-4+deb8u7, plus listed versions 3.4.1-43.4.1-4+deb8u13.4.1-4+deb8u1~bpo70+13.4.1-4+deb8u23.4.1-4+deb8u33.4.1-4+deb8u43.4.1-4+deb8u53.4.1-4+deb8u6 |
3.4.1-4+deb8u7 |
pdnsMageia:5 |
before 3.3.3-1.3.mga5 | 3.3.3-1.3.mga5 |
pdnsUbuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.4.5-1build23.4.6-23.4.6-33.4.7-13.4.7-2 Show 5 moreShow less4.0.0~alpha1-14.0.0~alpha2-24.0.0~alpha2-34.0.0~alpha2-3build14.0.0~alpha2-3ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
None known |
pdnsopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 4.5.1-1.5 | 4.5.1-1.5 |
pdns-recursoropenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 4.5.5-1.3 | 4.5.5-1.3 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, products | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2016-2120 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Powerdns Authoritative, published January 13, 2017. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.00%, the 80th percentile. Fixed in pdns 4.0.2-1.
References
debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3764
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2016-2120
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2120
github.com/advisories/GHSA-mq8j-4764-x4h8
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2016-2120
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2017-0033.html
Show 37 moreShow less
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=20126
doc.powerdns.com/md/security/powerdns-advisory-2016-02
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2016-2120
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-2120
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2006-2069