CVE-2017-14491
dnsmasq: heap overflow in the code responsible for building DNS replies
Severity
CriticalRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · October 2, 2017
Updated · November 21, 2025
Description
A heap buffer overflow was found in dnsmasq in the code responsible for building DNS replies. An attacker could send crafted DNS packets to dnsmasq which would cause it to crash or, potentially, execute arbitrary code.
Statement
Red Hat OpenStack Platform includes the dnsmasq-utils RPM which does not contain this flaw's affected code-paths; Red Hat OpenStack Platform is therefore listed as not affected.
However, because all versions of Red Hat OpenStack Platform are based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, all Red Hat OpenStack Platform users should absolutely upgrade the dnsmasq RPM from Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a matter of urgency using standard update mechanisms (such as 'yum update' or 'openstack overcloud update').
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 9.8CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0 · 10AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
CWE-122 · Heap-based Buffer Overflow