---
title: "CVE-2014-3214: A Defect in Prefetch Can Cause Recursive Servers to Crash"
slug: "aa-01161"
description: "A defect in the pre-fetch feature (which is enabled by default) can cause BIND 9.10.0 to terminate with a \"REQUIRE\" assertion failure if it processes queries whose answers have particular attributes. This can be triggered as the result of normal query processing."
updated: 2018-11-26T15:50:02Z
published: 2018-11-26T15:50:02Z
---

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# CVE-2014-3214: A Defect in Prefetch Can Cause Recursive Servers to Crash

A defect in the prefetch feature can cause **named** to crash when handling some queries.

**CVE:** [CVE-2014-3214](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2014-3214)

**Document version:** 2.0

**Posting date:** 8 May 2014

**Program impacted:** [BIND](https://www.isc.org/downloads/bind)

**Versions affected:** 9.10.0

**Severity:** High

**Exploitable:** Remotely

**Description:** 

A defect in the pre-fetch feature (which is enabled by default) can cause BIND 9.10.0 to terminate with a "REQUIRE" assertion failure if it processes queries whose answers have particular attributes. This can be triggered as the result of normal query processing.

**Impact:** 

Recursive nameservers are vulnerable to this defect. Authoritative-only servers are not at risk. On an affected nameserver, the assertion failure, if triggered, results in an immediate exit from **named**, denying service to clients attempting to query the recursive server.

**CVSS Score:** 7.8

**CVSS Vector:** (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C)

For more information on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System and to obtain your specific environmental score please visit: [http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?calculator&version=2&vector=(AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C)](http://nvd.nist.gov/cvss.cfm?calculator&version=2&vector=(AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C)).

**Workarounds:** The problematic code is bypassed and prefetching is disabled by setting the prefetch option to zero within the options block in `named.conf`:

```
 prefetch 0;
```

**Active exploits:** There are no known active exploits but the crash has been independently reported by multiple organizations.

**Solution:** Upgrade to the patched release listed below. BIND software can be downloaded from [https://www.isc.org/downloads](https://www.isc.org/downloads)

* BIND 9 version 9.10.0-P1

**Document Revision History:** 

1.0 Phase One, Advance Notification, 7 May 2014<br>
2.0 Phase Four, Public Disclosure, 8 May 2014

**Related Documents:** 

If you'd like more information on ISC Subscription Support and Advance Security Notifications, please visit [https://www.isc.org/support/](https://www.isc.org/support).

See our [BIND 9 Security Vulnerability Matrix](https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-00913) for a complete listing of security vulnerabilities and versions affected.

**Do you still have questions?** Questions regarding this advisory should go to [security-officer@isc.org](mailto:security-officer@isc.org). *To report a new issue, please encrypt your message using security-officer@isc.org's PGP key which can be found here: [https://www.isc.org/downloads/software-support-policy/openpgp-key/](https://www.isc.org/downloads/software-support-policy/openpgp-key). If you are unable to use encrypted email, you may also report new issues at: [https://www.isc.org/community/report-bug/](https://www.isc.org/community/report-bug).* 

**Note:** ISC patches only currently supported versions. When possible, we indicate EOL versions affected. (For current information on which versions are actively supported, please see [https://www.isc.org/downloads/](https://www.isc.org/downloads).) 

**ISC Security Vulnerability Disclosure Policy:** Details of our current security advisory policy and practice can be found in the [ISC Software Defect and Security Vulnerability Disclosure Policy](https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-00861).

This [Knowledgebase article](https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-01161) is the complete and official security advisory document.

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