CVE-2026-35406: Aardvark-dns has incorrect error handling for malformed tcp packets

Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-04-07 · updated 2026-07-24
Weakness: CWE-400

Description

Aardvark-dns is an authoritative dns server for A/AAAA container records. From 1.16.0 to 1.17.0, a truncated TCP DNS query followed by a connection reset causes aardvark-dns to enter an unrecoverable infinite error loop at 100% CPU. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.1.

Affected products

containers aardvark-dns: from 1.16.0 before 1.17.1 — fixed in 1.17.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: containers aardvark-dns 1.17.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://github.com/containers/aardvark-dns/commit/3b49ea7b38bdea134b7f03256f2e13f44ce73bb1
https://github.com/containers/aardvark-dns/releases/tag/v1.17.1
https://github.com/containers/aardvark-dns/security/advisories/GHSA-hfpq-x728-986j

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