CVE-2025-68151: Github.com/coredns/coredns Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
MODERATECVE-2025-68151 is a MODERATE remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) affecting Github.com/coredns/coredns libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves coredns grpc/https/http3 servers lack resource limits, enabling dos via unbounded connections and oversized messages. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.14.0.
CVE-2025-68151 at a Glance
How to Fix CVE-2025-68151
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Github.com/coredns/coredns dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
Upgrade github.com/coredns/coredns to 1.14.0Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
inspect dependencies for github.com/coredns/corednsHow to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2025-68151, inspect your project dependencies for Github.com/coredns/coredns:
inspect dependencies for github.com/coredns/corednsAnalyze the terminal output to locate any version of Github.com/coredns/coredns in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.14.0), 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 Github.com/coredns/coredns, 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
CVE-2025-68151 Affected Github.com/coredns/coredns Versions
1 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
github.com/coredns/coredns
|
Go |
< 1.14.0
|
1.14.0
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2025-68151?
Which Github.com/coredns/coredns versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2025-68151?
Is github.com/coredns/coredns affected?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-68151?
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2025-68151?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-527x-5wrf-22m2",
"modified" : "2026-01-08T20:12:58Z",
"published" : "2026-01-08T20:12:58Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-68151" ],
"summary" : "CoreDNS gRPC/HTTPS/HTTP3 servers lack resource limits, enabling DoS via unbounded connections and oversized messages",
"details" : "Multiple CoreDNS server implementations (gRPC, HTTPS, and HTTP/3) lack critical resource-limiting controls. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exhaust memory and degrade or crash the server by opening many concurrent connections, streams, or sending oversized request bodies. The issue is similar in nature to CVE-2025-47950 (QUIC DoS) but affects additional server types that do not enforce connection limits, stream limits, or message size constraints.\n\n### Impact\n\n#### 1. Missing connection and stream limits (gRPC / HTTPS / HTTP3)\n\nThe affected servers do not enforce reasonable upper bounds on concurrent connections or active streams. An attacker can:\n\n- Open many parallel connections\n- Rapidly issue requests without limit\n- Consume memory until the CoreDNS process becomes unresponsive or is terminated by the OOM killer\n\nTesting demonstrates that modest resource configurations (e.g., 256 MB RAM) can be exhausted quickly. Increasing concurrency parameters in the PoCs allows attackers to scale the impact.\n\n#### 2. Missing message-size validation in the gRPC server\n\nThe gRPC server accepts arbitrarily large protobuf messages (default limit ~4 MB per request) without validating against DNS protocol constraints (maximum 64 KB). Sending multiple concurrent oversized messages can quickly exhaust available memory.\n\nThis vulnerability mirrors earlier hardening work in PR https://github.com/coredns/coredns/pull/7490, which applied checks for upstream proxying but left server-side request validation unprotected.\n\n#### Result:\nIn all cases, remote unauthenticated attackers can reliably trigger memory exhaustion and cause a denial of service.\n\n\n### Patches\n_v1.14.0_",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V4",
"score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "Go",
"name" : "github.com/coredns/coredns"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"fixed" : "1.14.0"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/coredns/coredns/security/advisories/GHSA-527x-5wrf-22m2"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68151"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/coredns/coredns/pull/7490"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/coredns/coredns/commit/0d8cbb1a6bcb6bc9c1a489865278b8725fa20812"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/coredns/coredns"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-770" ],
"severity" : "MODERATE",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2026-01-08T20:12:58Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2026-01-08T16:15:59Z"
}
}