Collected research

Recursive DNS Resolver (DOS)

Vulnerability Note VU#264212 - Recursive DNS resolver implementations may follow referrals infinitely

Garret Wassermann · kb.cert.org

A malicious authoritative DNS server can answer queries with an endless chain of delegations. Recursive resolvers that follow referrals without a limit, and that issue many simultaneous queries, exhaust memory and CPU until the process dies, and can be steered into flooding a chosen target with DNS traffic.

Record

Document

Vulnerability Note VU#264212 - Recursive DNS resolver implementations may follow referrals infinitely

Researcher

Garret Wassermann

Published by

kb.cert.org

Topic

Other

In the archive

• Collected in the 2014 research round

Tags

• dos
• dns
• algorithmic-complexity
• cve
• vendor-advisory
• mitigation
• owasp-a04-2021

This page is the archive's own catalogue record. The research is the work of Garret Wassermann, first published at the original source. Preserved copies are kept so the citation survives its host; this one was last captured on 11 August 2026.