CVE-2021-25216
CriticalIn BIND 9.5.0 -> 9.11.29, 9.12.0 -> 9.16.13, and versions BIND 9.11.3-S1 -> 9.11.29-S1 and 9.16.8-S1 -> 9.16.13-S1 of BIND Supported Preview Edition, as well as release versions 9.17.0 -> 9.17.1 of the BIND 9.17 development branch, BIND servers are vulnerable if they are running…
Published Mar 11, 2022 · Updated Oct 5, 2026 · Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2021-25216, DEBIAN-CVE-2021-25216, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-25216
Key Facts
Patch immediately- CVE-2021-25216 is a critical-severity vulnerability (CVSS 9.8 v3.1) affecting Bind (Isc), Active Iq Unified Manager (Netapp), Cloud Backup (Netapp) and 22 more products.
- It is not listed in any known-exploited vulnerabilities catalog. No public exploit code is known.
- EPSS estimates a 82% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- Fixed versions are available, including Bind 9.16.15-1, Bind 9.16.15-r0, Bind 9.16.20-1.4.
- Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is very likely to be exploited soon.
CVSS v3.1
9.8
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS (30-day exploit likelihood)
82%
Higher than 99.6% of all scored CVEs
Exploited in the wild
No known
Not in a known-exploited catalog
Public exploit code
None known
Get the full CVE-2021-25216 brief as a PDF
Every affected product and fixed release, exploitation status and a first 24 hours response checklist, emailed within minutes.
Description
In BIND 9.5.0 -> 9.11.29, 9.12.0 -> 9.16.13, and versions BIND 9.11.3-S1 -> 9.11.29-S1 and 9.16.8-S1 -> 9.16.13-S1 of BIND Supported Preview Edition, as well as release versions 9.17.0 -> 9.17.1 of the BIND 9.17 development branch, BIND servers are vulnerable if they are running an affected version and are configured to use GSS-TSIG features. In a configuration which uses BIND's default settings the vulnerable code path is not exposed, but a server can be rendered vulnerable by explicitly setting values for the tkey-gssapi-keytab or tkey-gssapi-credential configuration options. Although the default configuration is not vulnerable, GSS-TSIG is frequently used in networks where BIND is integrated with Samba, as well as in mixed-server environments that combine BIND servers with Active Directory domain controllers. For servers that meet these conditions, the ISC SPNEGO implementation is vulnerable to various attacks, depending on the CPU architecture for which BIND was built: For named binaries compiled for 64-bit platforms, this flaw can be used to trigger a buffer over-read, leading to a server crash. For named binaries compiled for 32-bit platforms, this flaw can be used to trigger a server crash due to a buffer overflow and possibly also to achieve remote code execution. We have determined that standard SPNEGO implementations are available in the MIT and Heimdal Kerberos libraries, which support a broad range of operating systems, rendering the ISC implementation unnecessary and obsolete. Therefore, to reduce the attack surface for BIND users, we will be removing the ISC SPNEGO implementation in the April releases of BIND 9.11 and 9.16 (it had already been dropped from BIND 9.17). We would not normally remove something from a stable ESV (Extended Support Version) of BIND, but since system libraries can replace the ISC SPNEGO implementation, we have made an exception in this case for reasons of stability and security.
Affected Products
155 affected entries in total| Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| BindIsc | 9.10.5-s1, 9.10.7-s1, 9.11.12-s1, 9.11.21-s1, 9.11.27-s1, 9.11.29-s1, 9.11.3-s1, 9.11.5-s3 | 9.11.31 |
| Active Iq Unified ManagerNetapp | See advisory | n/a |
| Cloud BackupNetapp | See advisory | n/a |
| Sinec Infrastructure Network ServicesSiemens | See advisory | 1.0.1.1 |
| Debian LinuxDebian | 10.0, 9.0 | n/a |
Patched Releases
Bind
9.16.15-1, 9.16.15-r0, 9.16.20-1.4, 9.9.6P1-0.51.26.1, 9.9.9P1-63.25.1, 9.11.31
bind-chrootenv
9.9.6P1-0.51.26.1, 9.9.9P1-63.25.1
bind-devel
9.9.6P1-0.51.26.1
bind-doc
9.16.20-1.4, 9.9.6P1-0.51.26.1, 9.9.9P1-63.25.1
bind-libs
9.9.6P1-0.51.26.1, 9.9.9P1-63.25.1
bind-libs-32bit
9.9.6P1-0.51.26.1, 9.9.9P1-63.25.1
bind-utils
9.16.20-1.4, 9.9.6P1-0.51.26.1, 9.9.9P1-63.25.1
BIND9
1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u9, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-8ubuntu1.19, 1:9.11.3+dfsg-1ubuntu1.15, 1:9.11.5.P4+dfsg-5.1+deb10u5, 1:9.16.1-0ubuntu2.8, 1:9.16.15-1, 1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
bind9-doc
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
bind9-host
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
bind9utils
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
bindutils
9.16.15-1.ph1, 9.16.15-1.ph2, 9.16.15-1.ph3, 9.16.15-1.ph4
dnsutils
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
host
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
libbind-dev
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
libbind9-90
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
libdns100
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
libisc95
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
libisccc90
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
libisccfg90
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
liblwres90
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
lwresd
1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13
python3-bind
9.16.20-1.4
rootio-bind9
1:9.16.15-1
Sinec Infrastructure Network Services
1.0.1.1
Timeline
Publicly disclosed
Mar 11, 2022
Last updated
Oct 5, 2026
Weakness Type
- CWE-125 Out-of-bounds Read
- CWE-131 Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size
References
- advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1181495
- advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1185345
- advisoryhttps://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-562051.pdf
- advisoryhttps://kb.isc.org/docs/cve-2021-25216
- advisory[debian-lts-announce] 20210504 [SECURITY] [DLA 2647-1] bind9 security update
FAQ
Common Questions.
In BIND 9.5.0 -> 9.11.29, 9.12.0 -> 9.16.13, and versions BIND 9.11.3-S1 -> 9.11.29-S1 and 9.16.8-S1 -> 9.16.13-S1 of BIND Supported Preview Edition, as well as release versions 9.17.0 -> 9.17.1 of the BIND 9.17 development branch, BIND servers are vulnerable if they are running an affected version and are configured…
Affected: Bind (Isc) versions 9.10.5-s1, 9.10.7-s1, 9.11.12-s1, 9.11.21-s1, 9.11.27-s1, 9.11.29-s1, 9.11.3-s1, 9.11.5-s3; Active Iq Unified Manager (Netapp); Cloud Backup (Netapp), among others. The full list is in the CVE brief.
It is not listed in any known-exploited vulnerabilities catalog.
No, it is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
No public exploit code is known.
Fixed versions are available, including Bind 9.16.15-1, Bind 9.16.15-r0, Bind 9.16.20-1.4.
Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is very likely to be exploited soon.
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