# CVE-2018-1000003: Denial of service in n/a

> A man-in-the-middle attacker can deny the existence of DNS data via packet replay due to improper input validation in PowerDNS DNSSEC validators.

- **Severity:** Low 3.7 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-1000003, GHSA-vm3q-6vgq-8qhr, MGASA-2018-0252, openSUSE-SU-2018:0953-1

## What is CVE-2018-1000003?

CVE-2018-1000003 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in Powerdns Recursor, published on 22 Jan 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Improper input validation bugs in DNSSEC validators components in PowerDNS version 4.1.0 allow attacker in man-in-the-middle position to deny existence of some data in DNS via packet replay.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-1000003?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pdns-recursor` | SUSE:Package Hub 12 SP1 | All versions | 4.1.2-5.1 |

Products: Powerdns Recursor.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-1000003?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-1000003 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1000003 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Powerdns Recursor

- [CVE-2009-4009](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4009/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2020-10030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10030/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-59023](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59023/): Crafted delegations or IP fragments can poison cached delegations in Recursor (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2025-59030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59030/): Insufficient validation of incoming notifies over TCP can lead to a denial of service in Recursor (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2023-22617](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22617/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-1000003 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-1000003 is a low-severity denial of service vulnerability in Powerdns Recursor, published on 22 Jan 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-1000003 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Powerdns Recursor. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1000003/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1000003/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-1000003
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-1000003
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-1000003

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1000003/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.