An error in zone database reference counting can lead to an assertion failure if a server which is running an affected version of BIND attempts several transfers of a slave zone in quick succession. This defect could be deliberately exercised by an attacker who is permitted to cause a vulnerable server to initiate zone transfers (for example: by sending valid NOTIFY messages), causing the named process to exit after failing the assertion test. Affects BIND 9.12.0 and 9.12.1.
Severity
CVSS 3.0
5.3 medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS
18% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days; higher than 97% of CVEs (scores of 2026-10-31)