Skip to content
Heist/ feed
Back to feed
MediumFix available

bind9 — security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVAdvisory ID: DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617

Using a specially-crafted message, an attacker may potentially cause a BIND server to reach an inconsistent state if the attacker knows (or successfully guesses) the name of a TSIG key used by the server. Since BIND, by default, configures a local session key even on servers whose configuration does not otherwise make use of it, almost all current BIND servers are vulnerable. In releases of BIND dating from March 2018 and after, an assertion check in tsig.c detects this inconsistent state and deliberately exits. Prior to the introduction of the check the server would continue operating in an inconsistent state, with potentially harmful results.

Products
bind9
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
1:9.16.3-1
CVEs
CVE-2020-8617
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
1 Nov 2026, 13:34 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617

core-osv · Original source

Published 19 May 2020, 14:15 UTC

Using a specially-crafted message, an attacker may potentially cause a BIND server to reach an inconsistent state if the attacker knows (or successfully guesses) the name of a TSIG key used by the server. Since BIND, by default, configures a local session key even on servers whose configuration does not otherwise make use of it, almost all current BIND servers are vulnerable. In releases of BIND dating from March 2018 and after, an assertion check in tsig.c detects this inconsistent state and deliberately exits. Prior to the introduction of the check the server would continue operating in an inconsistent state, with potentially harmful results.

osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617

bind9

Fixed versions: 1:9.16.3-1

bind9

Fixed versions: 1:9.16.3-1

bind9

Fixed versions: 1:9.16.3-1

Complete source record
{
  "id": "15ad8c54d0e77029e2a324cfc3659391b2c75874793f42bb5f6d1f5484ce2c51",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617",
    "summary": "Using a specially-crafted message, an attacker may potentially cause a BIND server to reach an inconsistent state if the attacker knows (or successfully guesses) the name of a TSIG key used by the server. Since BIND, by default, configures a local session key even on servers whose configuration does not otherwise make use of it, almost all current BIND servers are vulnerable. In releases of BIND dating from March 2018 and after, an assertion check in tsig.c detects this inconsistent state and deliberately exits. Prior to the introduction of the check the server would continue operating in an inconsistent state, with potentially harmful results.",
    "evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "bind9",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "1:9.16.3-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "bind9",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "1:9.16.3-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "bind9",
          "evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "1:9.16.3-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617",
      "aliases": [
        "DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "1:9.16.3-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "bind9",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/bind9?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:12"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "1:9.16.3-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "bind9",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/bind9?arch=source&distro=trixie",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:13"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "1:9.16.3-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "bind9",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/bind9?arch=source&distro=forky",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:14"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2020-8617.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-26T12:02:33.364775290Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "upstream": [
        "CVE-2020-8617"
      ],
      "references": [
        "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-8617"
      ]
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2020-8617",
        "evidence": "/upstream"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 452544,
  "published_at": "2020-05-19T14:15:11.987+00:00"
}