Security Advisories (3)
CVE-2026-64193 (2026-07-20)

Net::DNS versions through 1.55 for Perl allow remote execution injection via EDNS EXTENDED ERROR. Net::DNS::RR::OPT::EXTENDED_ERROR::_decompose parses the EXTRA-TEXT field of an EDNS EXTENDED-ERROR option (RFC 8914) by tokenising the raw bytes and passing the result to Perl's eval. There is some escaping done for $ and @, but not for backticks. This can be exploited for command execution if $pkt->edns->option('EXTENDED-ERROR') is called in array context, for example with a payload of {0:`"<command>"`} in EXTRA-TEXT.

CVE-2026-64194 (2026-07-20)

Net::DNS versions through 1.55 for Perl allow Denial of Service via deep DNS compression pointer chains. Net::DNS::DomainName::decode follows RFC 1035 compression pointers by recursing into itself with no depth limit. It is possible to construct a name which saturates the call stack (at least with larger TCP responses), leading to a potential Denial of Service. The guard `$link < $offset` prevents forward and circular chains, but still allows arbitrarily long backward chains. The per-offset cache (`$cache`) is populated at the start of each call and short-circuits only re-traverses of the same offset - the initial descent through a fresh chain still recurses at full depth. A crafted packet can chain two-byte compression pointers so that each one points two bytes earlier than the previous, producing a chain length of `offset / 2`. For the 14-bit pointer field (max offset 16383) this gives up to ~8191 recursive frames. For a TCP DNS message the limit is the 16-bit length field (~32767 frames). Perl's default C stack handles only a few thousand frames; beyond that the process receives SIGSEGV or similar, which is a denial-of-service for any application parsing untrusted DNS data. The vulnerability is triggered by `Net::DNS::Packet->new(\$wire)` i.e. any point where the library decodes a DNS message from the network.

CVE-2026-81928 (2026-09-01)

Net::DNS versions before 1.57 for Perl allow memory exhaustion via unbounded recursion in sig_data when re-encoding a message with a misplaced TSIG record. sig_data signs a message by re-encoding it, and removes TSIG records only from the additional section. A TSIG decoded into the answer or authority section survives that step and is signed again, so encoding re-enters sig_data with no termination condition. Decoding does not reject such a message: a TSIG that is not the last record on the wire raises "misplaced or corrupt TSIG", but the error is caught, reported as a warning, and the record is left in the packet. RFC 8945 section 5.2 requires the message to be dropped. The recursion is reached only when the decoded TSIG carries an empty MAC, since a MAC recovered from the wire short-circuits the signing step. It is reached only from code that re-encodes a message it decoded, such as a forwarder or a proxy. A decoded message that is never re-encoded is unaffected. Message direction does not matter: a query reaches the same path as a response. Each cycle re-encodes the whole message, so fewer than 100 bytes on the wire exhaust available memory and terminate the process.

NAME

Net::DNS::Update - DNS dynamic update packet

SYNOPSIS

use Net::DNS;

$update = Net::DNS::Update->new( 'example.com', 'IN' );

$update->push( prereq => nxrrset('host.example.com. AAAA') );
$update->push( update => rr_add('host.example.com. 86400 AAAA 2001::DB8::F00') );

DESCRIPTION

Net::DNS::Update is a subclass of Net::DNS::Packet, to be used for making DNS dynamic updates.

Programmers should refer to RFC2136 for dynamic update semantics.

METHODS

new

$update = Net::DNS::Update->new;
$update = Net::DNS::Update->new( 'example.com' );
$update = Net::DNS::Update->new( 'example.com', 'IN' );

Returns a Net::DNS::Update object suitable for performing a DNS dynamic update. Specifically, it creates a packet with the header opcode set to UPDATE and the zone record type to SOA (per RFC 2136, Section 2.3).

Programs must use the push() method to add RRs to the prerequisite and update sections before performing the update.

Arguments are the zone name and the class. The zone and class may be undefined or omitted and default to the default domain from the resolver configuration and IN respectively.

push

$ancount = $update->push( prereq => $rr );
$nscount = $update->push( update => $rr );
$arcount = $update->push( additional => $rr );

$nscount = $update->push( update => $rr1, $rr2, $rr3 );
$nscount = $update->push( update => @rr );

Adds RRs to the specified section of the update packet.

Returns the number of resource records in the specified section.

Section names may be abbreviated to the first three characters.

unique_push

$ancount = $update->unique_push( prereq => $rr );
$nscount = $update->unique_push( update => $rr );
$arcount = $update->unique_push( additional => $rr );

$nscount = $update->unique_push( update => $rr1, $rr2, $rr3 );
$nscount = $update->unique_push( update => @rr );

Adds RRs to the specified section of the update packet provided that the RRs are not already present in the same section.

Returns the number of resource records in the specified section.

Section names may be abbreviated to the first three characters.

EXAMPLES

The first example below shows a complete program. Subsequent examples show only the creation of the update packet.

Although the examples are presented using the string form of RRs, the corresponding ( name => value ) form may also be used.

Add a new host

#!/usr/bin/perl

use Net::DNS;

# Create the update packet.
my $update = Net::DNS::Update->new('example.com');

# Prerequisite is that no address records exist for the name.
$update->push( pre => nxrrset('host.example.com. A') );
$update->push( pre => nxrrset('host.example.com. AAAA') );

# Add two address records for the name.
$update->push( update => rr_add('host.example.com. 86400 A 192.0.2.1') );
$update->push( update => rr_add('host.example.com. 86400 AAAA 2001:DB8::1') );

# Send the update to the zone's primary nameserver.
my $resolver = Net::DNS::Resolver->new();
$resolver->nameservers('DNSprimary.example.com');

my $reply = $resolver->send($update);

# Did it work?
if ($reply) {
	print 'Update RCODE: ', $reply->header->rcode, "\n";
} else {
	print 'Update failed: ', $resolver->errorstring, "\n";
}

Add an MX record for a name that already exists

my $update = Net::DNS::Update->new('example.com');
$update->push( prereq => yxdomain('example.com') );
$update->push( update => rr_add('example.com MX 10 mailhost.example.com') );

Add a TXT record for a name that does not exist

my $update = Net::DNS::Update->new('example.com');
$update->push( prereq => nxdomain('info.example.com') );
$update->push( update => rr_add('info.example.com TXT "yabba dabba doo"') );

Delete all A records for a name

my $update = Net::DNS::Update->new('example.com');
$update->push( prereq => yxrrset('host.example.com A') );
$update->push( update => rr_del('host.example.com A') );

Delete all RRs for a name

my $update = Net::DNS::Update->new('example.com');
$update->push( prereq => yxdomain('byebye.example.com') );
$update->push( update => rr_del('byebye.example.com') );

Perform DNS update signed using a key generated by BIND tsig-keygen

my $update = Net::DNS::Update->new('example.com');
$update->push( update => rr_add('host.example.com AAAA 2001:DB8::1') );
$update->sign_tsig( $key_file );
my $reply = $resolver->send( $update );
$reply->verify( $update ) || die $reply->verifyerr;

Signing the DNS update using a customised TSIG record

$update->sign_tsig( $key_file, fudge => 60 );

Another way to sign a DNS update

use Net::DNS::RR::TSIG;

my $tsig = create Net::DNS::RR::TSIG( $key_file );
$tsig->fudge(60);

my $update = Net::DNS::Update->new('example.com');
$update->push( update     => rr_add('host.example.com AAAA 2001:DB8::1') );
$update->push( additional => $tsig );

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c)1997-2000 Michael Fuhr.

Portions Copyright (c)2002,2003 Chris Reinhardt.

Portions Copyright (c)2015 Dick Franks.

All rights reserved.

LICENSE

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the original copyright notices appear in all copies and that both copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of the author not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific prior written permission.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

SEE ALSO

perl Net::DNS Net::DNS::Packet Net::DNS::Header Net::DNS::RR Net::DNS::Resolver RFC2136 RFC8945