A multi-vendor cache poisoning vulnerability named 'Rebirthday Attack' has been discovered in caching resolvers that support EDNS Client Subnet (ECS). Unbound is also vulnerable when compiled with ECS support, i.e., '--enable-subnet', AND configured to send ECS information along with queries to upstream name servers, i.e., at least one of the 'send-client-subnet', 'client-subnet-zone' or 'client-subnet-always-forward' options is used. Resolvers supporting ECS need to segregate outgoing queries to accommodate for different outgoing ECS information. This re-opens up resolvers to a birthday paradox attack (Rebirthday Attack) that tries to match the DNS transaction ID in order to cache non-ECS poisonous replies.
History

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N'}

threat_severity

Important


Wed, 16 Jul 2025 16:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Wed, 16 Jul 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A multi-vendor cache poisoning vulnerability named 'Rebirthday Attack' has been discovered in caching resolvers that support EDNS Client Subnet (ECS). Unbound is also vulnerable when compiled with ECS support, i.e., '--enable-subnet', AND configured to send ECS information along with queries to upstream name servers, i.e., at least one of the 'send-client-subnet', 'client-subnet-zone' or 'client-subnet-always-forward' options is used. Resolvers supporting ECS need to segregate outgoing queries to accommodate for different outgoing ECS information. This re-opens up resolvers to a birthday paradox attack (Rebirthday Attack) that tries to match the DNS transaction ID in order to cache non-ECS poisonous replies.
Title Cache poisoning via the ECS-enabled Rebirthday Attack
Weaknesses CWE-349
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/R:U/V:C'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: NLnet Labs

Published: 2025-07-16T14:38:22.738Z

Updated: 2025-07-16T15:42:18.657Z

Reserved: 2025-06-11T09:08:05.767Z

Link: CVE-2025-5994

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2025-07-16T15:42:16.296Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-07-16T15:15:33.490

Modified: 2025-07-17T21:15:50.197

Link: CVE-2025-5994

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2025-07-16T14:38:22Z

Links: CVE-2025-5994 - Bugzilla