In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.22.0 up to and including 1.25.1, a remote unauthenticated client can trigger a libngtcp2 assertion (if compiled with assertions on) and terminate the entire Unbound process using a single DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) connection and one normal DNS query. This is caused by an erroneous error value passed to libngtcp2. When 'ngtcp2_conn_writev_stream()' returns 'NGTCP2_ERR_STREAM_DATA_BLOCKED', Unbound continues to call 'ngtcp2_ccerr_set_application_error()' with a '-1' error value. The 'int' literal '-1' is implicitly converted to the function's 'uint64_t error_code' parameter as '0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF'. The follow-on 'ngtcp2_conn_write_connection_close()' serialises that value as a QUIC variable-length integer; because '2^64-1' exceeds the 62-bit varint ceiling, 'ngtcp2_put_uvarintlen()' fails 'assert(n < 4611686018427387904ULL)' and the whole resolver process aborts. A remote, unauthenticated DoQ client can trigger this deterministically with a single QUIC connection by advertising 'initial_max_stream_data_bidi_local = 1' in its transport parameters and sending one DoQ query without ever reading the stream.
History

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Nlnetlabs
Nlnetlabs unbound
Vendors & Products Nlnetlabs
Nlnetlabs unbound

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat hummingbird
Weaknesses CWE-190
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:hummingbird:1
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat hummingbird
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Moderate


Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In NLnet Labs Unbound 1.22.0 up to and including 1.25.1, a remote unauthenticated client can trigger a libngtcp2 assertion (if compiled with assertions on) and terminate the entire Unbound process using a single DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) connection and one normal DNS query. This is caused by an erroneous error value passed to libngtcp2. When 'ngtcp2_conn_writev_stream()' returns 'NGTCP2_ERR_STREAM_DATA_BLOCKED', Unbound continues to call 'ngtcp2_ccerr_set_application_error()' with a '-1' error value. The 'int' literal '-1' is implicitly converted to the function's 'uint64_t error_code' parameter as '0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF'. The follow-on 'ngtcp2_conn_write_connection_close()' serialises that value as a QUIC variable-length integer; because '2^64-1' exceeds the 62-bit varint ceiling, 'ngtcp2_put_uvarintlen()' fails 'assert(n < 4611686018427387904ULL)' and the whole resolver process aborts. A remote, unauthenticated DoQ client can trigger this deterministically with a single QUIC connection by advertising 'initial_max_stream_data_bidi_local = 1' in its transport parameters and sending one DoQ query without ever reading the stream.
Title Remote DNS-over-QUIC (DoQ) flow-control assertion failure in libngtcp2
Weaknesses CWE-195
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: NLnet Labs

Published: 2026-07-22T13:10:13.235Z

Updated: 2026-07-22T14:03:20.789Z

Reserved: 2026-06-22T10:11:10.505Z

Link: CVE-2026-55991

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-07-22T14:03:16.153Z

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-07-22T13:10:13Z

Links: CVE-2026-55991 - Bugzilla