CVE-2026-89092
Received Received - Intake

Stack Overflow in GNU C Library nscd Service

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-89092, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-09-11

Last updated on: 2026-09-11

Assigner: GNU C Library

Description

The nscd service in the GNU C Library 2.3.4 onwards may crash due to a stack overflow when a malicious DNS server returns too large a response for a DNS query, resulting in degraded DNS resolution for the system. Exploitation of this bug needs a system that has nscd enabled and using an untrusted DNS server for name resolution, with the compromised DNS server being capable of processing records large enough to result in a stack overflow in an nscd thread stack.Β  During experimentation, bind 9 was unable to handle large records, but that could change in future or with a different name server.Β  In typical installations, nscd is executed in an isolated context as its own user without a shell, due to which any compromise of that service is isolated. There is a remote possibility of nscd cache corruption if an attacker manages to get the stack pointer into a desired point in the heap, potentially resulting in other caches in nscd being overwritten with corrupt data through the stack overflow, until the buggy code path eventually results in a crash. Finally, a crash in nscd may result in performance degradation when resolving names, but it does not result in a denial of service.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-11
Last Modified
2026-09-11
Generated
2026-09-11
AI Q&A
2026-09-11
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
gnu gnu_c_library 2.3.4

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-789 The product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability involves a stack overflow in the nscd service of the GNU C Library. When a malicious DNS server returns an excessively large response to a DNS query, it can cause nscd to crash. This happens because the stack overflow may corrupt the nscd cache, leading to potential data corruption in other caches before the service crashes.

Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires checking if nscd is running and monitoring for crashes or unusual DNS resolution behavior. Check if nscd is active with 'systemctl status nscd' or 'ps aux | grep nscd'. Monitor DNS resolution performance and logs for crashes. No specific commands are provided for detection in the given context.

Impact Analysis

If your system uses nscd with an untrusted DNS server, an attacker could exploit this to crash nscd. This may degrade DNS resolution performance but does not cause a denial of service. The impact is limited as nscd runs in isolation without a shell, reducing the risk of further compromise.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability does not directly impact compliance with GDPR or HIPAA as it primarily causes DNS resolution degradation and potential cache corruption in nscd without leading to data breaches or unauthorized access. However, if DNS resolution issues disrupt critical services handling personal or health data, it could indirectly affect compliance by causing service unavailability or data processing delays.

Mitigation Strategies

Disable nscd if not required using 'systemctl stop nscd' and 'systemctl disable nscd'. Ensure DNS servers used are trusted and not vulnerable to large record responses. Update the GNU C Library to a patched version if available. Restrict nscd execution context to minimize impact if compromised.

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