CVE-2026-4893
Description
A validation bypass was discovered in dnsmasq's RFC 7871 client subnet (ECS) handling. When verifying ECS source information in DNS responses, dnsmasq passes the OPT record length instead of the full packet length to the validation function.This causes all internal bounds checks to fail, completely bypassing ECS source validation and allowing an attacker to spoof client subnet information.
Statement
Red Hat rates this as Moderate. This issue affects deployments with the --add-subnet option enabled. The impact is limited to bypassing ECS source validation, which could allow cache manipulation scoped to specific subnets or minor information disclosure about network topology.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.5 | N/A | 5.3 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | N/A | Low |
| Integrity Impact | Low | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
