BIND 9 Resolver Abort on Redirect & QNAME-MIN Strict (9.16-9.21)
CVE-2026-96888 Published on October 21, 2026

Named may terminate unexpectedly when a redirect zone is used with strict QNAME minimization
A BIND resolver that is configured with both a "redirect" zone and "qname-minimization strict" may abort with an assertion failure while processing the redirect. This issue affects BIND 9 versions 9.16.0 through 9.18.50, 9.20.0 through 9.20.29, 9.21.0 through 9.21.26, 9.16.8-S1 through 9.18.50-S1, and 9.20.9-S1 through 9.20.29-S1.

Vendor Advisory NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-96888 is exploitable with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.

Attack Vector:
NETWORK
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
NONE
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
NONE
Integrity Impact:
NONE
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Weakness Types

NULL Pointer Dereference

A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. NULL pointer dereference issues can occur through a number of flaws, including race conditions, and simple programming omissions.

What is an assertion failure Vulnerability?

The product contains an assert() or similar statement that can be triggered by an attacker, which leads to an application exit or other behavior that is more severe than necessary.

CVE-2026-96888 has been classified to as an assertion failure vulnerability or weakness.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-96888

Want to know whenever a new CVE is published for ISC BIND? stack.watch will email you.

ISC BIND
 

Affected Versions

ISC BIND 9: