CWE-166Base

Improper Handling of Missing Special Element

Draft in the CWE catalog · 3 CVEs mapped

3
CVEs mapped
7.5
Median CVSS
What it is

The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not handle or incorrectly handles when an expected special element is missing.

Recent examples
4.6cvss
CVE-2026-32792

Packet of death with DNSCrypt

NLnet Labs Unbound 1.6.2 up to and including version 1.25.0 has a denial of service vulnerability when compiled with DNSCrypt support ('--enable-dnscrypt'). A bad DNSCrypt query could underflow Unbound's DNSCrypt packet reading procedure that may lead to heap overflow. A malicious actor can exploit the vulnerability with a single bad DNSCrypt query that its decrypted plaintext consists entirely of '0x00' bytes and does not contain the expected '0x80' marker. Unbound would then start reading more bytes than necessary until it finds a non-'0x00' byte. Based on the underlying memory allocator and the memory layout, it could lead to heap overflow while reading followed by a crash. Likelihood of a crash is low, since it relies heavily on the underlying memory allocator and the memory layout. If the heap overflow does not happen, Unbound's later packet checks will deny the packet. Unbound 1.25.1 contains a patch with a fix to bound reading in the given buffer space.

MEDIUMno explanation yet
0%
epss
7.5cvss
CVE-2026-21218

.NET Spoofing Vulnerability

⚡ A missing special element in .NET could let unauthorized attackers pull off some sneaky spoofing tricks over the network! Think of it like a restaurant that forgets to check the chef's signature on the meals — anyone could step in and serve whatever they want, masquerading as the head chef! This vulnerability allows attackers to impersonate trusted entities, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data or systems. Imagine the chaos if someone could convincingly masquerade as your bank or email provider!

HIGH
1%
epss
7.5cvss
CVE-2024-38091

Microsoft WS-Discovery Denial of Service Vulnerability

Microsoft WS-Discovery Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGHno explanation yet
2%
epss
The record
Technical detail
CWE ID
CWE-166
Abstraction
Base
Structure
Simple
Status
Draft