CVE-2026-64194: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-m3gj-74x3-vc94
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-674
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-64194 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-64194 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-64194
GHSA Identifier GHSA-m3gj-74x3-vc94
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-64194

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-64194, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion, where the product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Net::DNS versions through 1.55 for Perl allow Denial of Service via deep DNS compression pointer chains. Net::DNS::DomainName::decode follows RFC 1035 compression pointers by recursing into itself with no depth limit. It is possible to construct a name which saturates the call stack (at least with larger TCP responses), leading to a potential Denial of Service. The guard `$link < $offset` prevents forward and circular chains, but still allows arbitrarily long backward chains. The per-offset cache (`$cache`) is populated at the start of each call and short-circuits only re-traverses of the same offset - the initial descent through a fresh chain still recurses at full depth. A crafted packet can chain two-byte compression pointers so that each one points two bytes earlier than the previous, producing a chain length of `offset / 2`. For the 14-bit pointer field (max offset 16383) this gives up to ~8191 recursive frames. For a TCP DNS message the limit is the 16-bit length field (~32767 frames). Perl's default C stack handles only a few thousand frames; beyond that the process receives SIGSEGV or similar, which is a denial-of-service for any application parsing untrusted DNS data. The vulnerability is triggered by `Net::DNS::Packet->new(\$wire)` i.e. any point where the library decodes a DNS message from the network.

References

NVD — CVE-2026-64194 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64194
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/08/msg00052.html
metacpan.org/release/nlnetlabs/n... WEB
https://metacpan.org/release/NLNETLABS/Net-DNS-1.55_01/changes
rt.cpan.org/ticket/display.html WEB
https://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=179946
www.net-dns.org/blog/ WEB
https://www.net-dns.org/blog/#release-candidate-for-netdns-1.56
Software Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/20/13

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-64194?
CVE-2026-64194 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-64194?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-64194?
CVE-2026-64194 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-64194?
CVE-2026-64194 is classified under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion (The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-64194?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
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  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-m3gj-74x3-vc94",
  "modified" : "2026-08-30T21:30:25Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-20T21:31:50Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-64194" ],
  "details" : "Net::DNS versions through 1.55 for Perl allow Denial of Service via deep DNS compression pointer chains.\n\nNet::DNS::DomainName::decode follows RFC 1035 compression pointers by recursing into itself with no depth limit. It is possible to construct a name which saturates the call stack (at least with larger TCP responses), leading to a potential Denial of Service.\n\nThe guard `$link < $offset` prevents forward and circular chains, but still allows arbitrarily long backward chains. The per-offset cache (`$cache`) is populated at the start of each call and short-circuits only re-traverses of the same offset - the initial descent through a fresh chain still recurses at full depth.\n\nA crafted packet can chain two-byte compression pointers so that each one points two bytes earlier than the previous, producing a chain length of `offset / 2`. For the 14-bit pointer field (max offset 16383) this gives up to ~8191 recursive frames. For a TCP DNS message the limit is the 16-bit length field (~32767 frames). Perl's default C stack handles only a few thousand frames; beyond that the process receives SIGSEGV or similar, which is a denial-of-service for any application parsing untrusted DNS data.\n\nThe vulnerability is triggered by `Net::DNS::Packet->new(\\$wire)` i.e. any point where the library decodes a DNS message from the network.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/08/msg00052.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://metacpan.org/release/NLNETLABS/Net-DNS-1.55_01/changes"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
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  }, {
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    "url" : "https://www.net-dns.org/blog/#release-candidate-for-netdns-1.56"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/20/13"
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  "database_specific" : {
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    "severity" : "HIGH",
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    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-07-20T19:17:30Z"
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}