CVE-2022-38178Network attack vector

Remote service crash via EdDSA signature memory leak

Published Sep 21, 2022 · Updated May 28, 2025

Memory exhaustion in affected Internet Systems Consortium BIND 9 releases allows remote attackers to crash named via spoofed DNS responses. The EdDSA DNSSEC verification path fails to release allocated memory when a signature has an invalid length. Repeated malformed responses must reach a validating target resolver; each leaks memory until resource exhaustion terminates the DNS service.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability2.52%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory exhaustion in affected Internet Systems Consortium BIND 9 releases allows remote attackers to crash named via spoofed DNS responses. The EdDSA DNSSEC verification path fails to release allocated memory when a signature has an invalid length. Repeated malformed responses must reach a validating target resolver; each leaks memory until resource exhaustion terminates the DNS service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-38178
Published
Sep 21, 2022
Updated
May 28, 2025
Vendor
Internet Systems Consortium
Product
BIND 9
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 21, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 28, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=Development Branch 9.19 9.19.0 through versions before 9.19.5
  2. Affected versionversion=Open Source Branch 9.10 9.10.7 through versions up to and including 9.10.8
  3. Affected versionversion=Open Source Branch 9.18 9.18.0 through versions before 9.18.7
  4. Affected versionversion=Open Source Branch 9.9 9.9.12 through versions up to and including 9.9.13
  5. Affected versionversion=Open Source Branches 9.11 through 9.16 9.11.3 through versions before 9.16.33
  6. Affected versionversion=Supported Preview Branch 9.11-S 9.11.4-S1 through versions up to and including 9.11.37-S1
  7. Affected versionversion=Supported Preview Branch 9.16-S 9.16.8-S1 through versions before 9.16.33-S1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Internet Systems Consortium · BIND 9version=Development Branch 9.19 9.19.0 through versions before 9.19.5; version=Open Source Branch 9.10 9.10.7 through versions up to and including 9.10.8; version=Open Source Branch 9.18 9.18.0 through versions before 9.18.7; version=Open Source Branch 9.9 9.9.12 through versions up to and including 9.9.13; version=Open Source Branches 9.11 through 9.16 9.11.3 through versions before 9.16.33; version=Supported Preview Branch 9.11-S 9.11.4-S1 through versions up to and including 9.11.37-S1; version=Supported Preview Branch 9.16-S 9.16.8-S1 through versions before 9.16.33-S1

Published CVSS scores

7.5Internet Systems ConsortiumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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