GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp: Hickory proto Hickory-proto Vulnerable To CPU Exhaustion Vulnerability

MODERATE
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CWE-770 CWE-407
Published
Advisory Summary

GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp is a MODERATE hickory-proto vulnerable to cpu exhaustion vulnerability (CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) affecting Hickory proto libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves hickory-proto vulnerable to cpu exhaustion during message encoding due to o(n²) name compression. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.26.1.

GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Affected Product Hickory proto
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp

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

hickory-proto fixed: 0.26.1 
Upgrade hickory-proto to 0.26.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

inspect dependencies for hickory-proto

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp, inspect your project dependencies for Hickory proto:

inspect dependencies for hickory-proto

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Hickory proto in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.26.1), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling, where the product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated. In Hickory proto, 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

During message encoding, `hickory-proto`'s `BinEncoder` stores pointers to labels that are candidates for name compression in a `Vec<(usize, Vec<u8>)>`. The name compression logic then searches for matches with a linear scan. A malicious message with many records can both introduce many candidate labels, and invoke this linear scan many times. This can amplify CPU exhaustion in DoS attacks. This is similar to [CVE-2024-8508](https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2024-8508.txt). ### Reporter Qifan Zhang, Palo Alto Networks

GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp Affected Hickory proto Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.26.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
hickory-proto
 crates.io
≥ 0.3.1
< 0.26.1
0.26.1

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/hickory-dns/hickory-dns/security/advisories/GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp
Hickory proto Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/hickory-dns/hickory-dns
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2026-0119.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp?
GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp is a security vulnerability in Hickory proto involving hickory-proto vulnerable to CPU exhaustion during message encoding due to O(n²) name compression under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling.
Which Hickory proto versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.26.1 across affected packages: hickory-proto.
What version fixes GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp?
Upgrading to 0.26.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is hickory-proto affected?
Yes, hickory-proto is affected in releases prior to 0.26.1. Upgrade your dependency to 0.26.1 or later.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp?
GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp is classified under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for hickory-proto'. 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 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp",
  "modified" : "2026-05-07T02:59:48Z",
  "published" : "2026-05-07T02:59:48Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "hickory-proto vulnerable to CPU exhaustion during message encoding due to O(n²) name compression",
  "details" : "During message encoding, `hickory-proto`'s `BinEncoder` stores pointers to labels that are candidates for name compression in a `Vec<(usize, Vec<u8>)>`. The name compression logic then searches for matches with a linear scan.\n\nA malicious message with many records can both introduce many candidate labels, and invoke this linear scan many times. This can amplify CPU exhaustion in DoS attacks.\n\nThis is similar to [CVE-2024-8508](https://www.nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/unbound/CVE-2024-8508.txt).\n\n### Reporter\n\nQifan Zhang, Palo Alto Networks",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "hickory-proto"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.3.1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.26.1"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.26.0"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hickory-dns/hickory-dns/security/advisories/GHSA-q2qq-hmj6-3wpp"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hickory-dns/hickory-dns"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2026-0119.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-407", "CWE-770" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-05-07T02:59:48Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}