Description
A flaw was found in dnsmasq before version 2.83. When getting a reply from a forwarded query, dnsmasq checks in forward.c:reply_query(), which is the forwarded query that matches the reply, by only using a weak hash of the query name. Due to the weak hash (CRC32 when dnsmasq is compiled without DNSSEC, SHA-1 when it is) this flaw allows an off-path attacker to find several different domains all having the same hash, substantially reducing the number of attempts they would have to perform to forge a reply and get it accepted by dnsmasq. This is in contrast with RFC5452, which specifies that the query name is one of the attributes of a query that must be used to match a reply. This flaw could be abused to perform a DNS Cache Poisoning attack. If chained with CVE-2020-25684 the attack complexity of a successful attack is reduced. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data integrity.
Metrics
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:NWeakness enumeration
Affected software
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | dnsmasq | dnsmasq 2.83 |
References
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1889688Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGB7HL3OWHTLEPSMLDGOMXQKG3KM2QME/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WYW3IR6APUSKOYKL5FT3ACTIHWHGQY32/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-17Third Party Advisory
- https://www.arista.com/en/support/advisories-notices/security-advisories/12135-security-advisory-61Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4844Third Party Advisory
- https://www.jsof-tech.com/disclosures/dnspooq/Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1889688Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGB7HL3OWHTLEPSMLDGOMXQKG3KM2QME/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WYW3IR6APUSKOYKL5FT3ACTIHWHGQY32/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-17Third Party Advisory
- https://www.arista.com/en/support/advisories-notices/security-advisories/12135-security-advisory-61Third Party Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4844Third Party Advisory
- https://www.jsof-tech.com/disclosures/dnspooq/Third Party Advisory
- https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/434904
Timeline
- Published
- Jan 20, 2021
- Last modified
- Jun 17, 2026
- NVD status
- Modified