CVE-2026-69186
Description
c-ares is an asynchronous resolver library. Prior to 1.34.7, ares_dns_parse() trusts the attacker-controlled ANCOUNT, NSCOUNT, and ARCOUNT fields before confirming that the DNS response contains enough bytes for the claimed records. Because process_answer() invokes parsing before transaction ID and question validation, a malicious DNS response can cause ares_dns_record_rr_prealloc() and ares_array_set_size() to reserve disproportionate heap memory for a tiny message. Repeated responses create large allocation and release cycles that can degrade or deny name resolution, without causing memory corruption or information disclosure. This issue is fixed in version 1.34.7.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
Propose a mitigation on Community Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
OS impact
SUSE Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
Debian Mixed 5 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trixie | Affected | — |
| sid | Fixed | 1.34.7-1 |
| forky | Fixed | 1.34.7-1 |
| bullseye | Fixed | 0 |
| bookworm | Fixed | 0 |
References
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-69186
- https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-69186.html
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/commit/e47c203f91cd8b749c8736bc18d75a31ffdec8f4
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/commit/eaded4cb200b2a5f8d73f11021ff7c8d6968aaab
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/pull/1134
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/releases/tag/v1.34.7
- https://github.com/c-ares/c-ares/security/advisories/GHSA-jv8r-gqr9-68wj
CWEs
CWE-400
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.