cmd/cli: discard upstream answers whose question mismatches the request

Defense in depth against cache poisoning: a compromised or misbehaving
upstream can return an answer for a different name than was asked (e.g.
records for attacker.example in response to a query for victim.example).
Such an answer would be cached under the legitimate request key and
served to subsequent queries.

Validate that the upstream answer echoes the request's question
(case-insensitive name plus Qtype/Qclass, per RFC 1035 section 4.1.2)
before serving or caching it. A mismatch is logged at debug level and
the upstream is skipped, failing safe to the next upstream or SERVFAIL.

Refs github.com/Control-D-Inc/ctrld/issues/322
This commit is contained in:
Cuong Manh Le
2026-07-14 03:45:19 +07:00
parent 9cf8bc3b5b
commit 7f3d332b64
3 changed files with 70 additions and 2 deletions
+38
View File
@@ -974,6 +974,17 @@ func (p *prog) processUpstream(ctx context.Context, req *proxyRequest, upstream
} }
ctrld.Log(ctx, p.Debug(), "Upstream query successful") ctrld.Log(ctx, p.Debug(), "Upstream query successful")
// Reject an answer whose question does not match the request before it
// can be served or cached. A mismatched question means the upstream
// answered a different name/type than asked; caching it would poison
// the shared cache with wrong-domain records for the requested name.
// See github.com/Control-D-Inc/ctrld/issues/322.
if !sameQuestion(req.msg, answer) {
ctrld.Log(ctx, p.Debug(),
"Discarding answer from %s: question mismatch (asked %q, got %q)",
upstream, questionString(req.msg), questionString(answer))
return nil
}
if p.shouldContinueWithNextUpstream(ctx, req, answer, upstream, lastUpstream) { if p.shouldContinueWithNextUpstream(ctx, req, answer, upstream, lastUpstream) {
return nil return nil
} }
@@ -1132,6 +1143,33 @@ func requestID() string {
return hex.EncodeToString(b) return hex.EncodeToString(b)
} }
// sameQuestion reports whether the upstream answer echoes the request's
// question. A well-behaved resolver always copies the question section from
// the query (RFC 1035 section 4.1.2); names are compared case-insensitively
// because DNS names are case-insensitive. A mismatch means the upstream
// answered a different name/type than asked - malformed or malicious - and the
// answer must not be served or cached, or it would poison the shared cache with
// wrong-domain records. See github.com/Control-D-Inc/ctrld/issues/322.
func sameQuestion(req, answer *dns.Msg) bool {
if req == nil || answer == nil {
return false
}
if len(req.Question) == 0 || len(answer.Question) == 0 {
return false
}
rq, aq := req.Question[0], answer.Question[0]
return rq.Qtype == aq.Qtype && rq.Qclass == aq.Qclass && strings.EqualFold(rq.Name, aq.Name)
}
// questionString renders a message's first question as "name/type" for logging.
func questionString(msg *dns.Msg) string {
if msg == nil || len(msg.Question) == 0 {
return "<none>"
}
q := msg.Question[0]
return q.Name + "/" + dns.TypeToString[q.Qtype]
}
// setCachedAnswerTTL updates the TTL of each DNS record in the provided message based on the current and expiration times. // setCachedAnswerTTL updates the TTL of each DNS record in the provided message based on the current and expiration times.
func setCachedAnswerTTL(answer *dns.Msg, now, expiredTime time.Time) { func setCachedAnswerTTL(answer *dns.Msg, now, expiredTime time.Time) {
ttlSecs := expiredTime.Sub(now).Seconds() ttlSecs := expiredTime.Sub(now).Seconds()
+30
View File
@@ -811,6 +811,36 @@ func Test_prog_queryFromSelf(t *testing.T) {
}) })
} }
func Test_sameQuestion(t *testing.T) {
mk := func(name string, qtype uint16) *dns.Msg {
m := new(dns.Msg)
m.SetQuestion(name, qtype)
return m
}
tests := []struct {
name string
req *dns.Msg
answer *dns.Msg
want bool
}{
{"identical", mk("example.com.", dns.TypeA), mk("example.com.", dns.TypeA), true},
{"case insensitive", mk("Example.COM.", dns.TypeA), mk("example.com.", dns.TypeA), true},
{"different name", mk("victim.example.", dns.TypeA), mk("attacker.example.", dns.TypeA), false},
{"different type", mk("example.com.", dns.TypeA), mk("example.com.", dns.TypeAAAA), false},
{"nil req", nil, mk("example.com.", dns.TypeA), false},
{"nil answer", mk("example.com.", dns.TypeA), nil, false},
{"empty answer question", mk("example.com.", dns.TypeA), new(dns.Msg), false},
}
for _, tc := range tests {
tc := tc
t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
if got := sameQuestion(tc.req, tc.answer); got != tc.want {
t.Errorf("sameQuestion() = %v, want %v", got, tc.want)
}
})
}
}
// newTestProg creates a properly initialized *prog for testing. // newTestProg creates a properly initialized *prog for testing.
func newTestProg(t *testing.T) *prog { func newTestProg(t *testing.T) *prog {
p := &prog{cfg: testhelper.SampleConfig(t)} p := &prog{cfg: testhelper.SampleConfig(t)}
+2 -2
View File
@@ -748,7 +748,7 @@ func TestDoQResolve_PreservesRcode(t *testing.T) {
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second) ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
defer cancel() defer cancel()
pool := newDOQConnPool(uc, []string{"127.0.0.1"}) pool := newDOQConnPool(ctx, uc, []string{"127.0.0.1"})
t.Cleanup(pool.CloseIdleConnections) t.Cleanup(pool.CloseIdleConnections)
msg := new(dns.Msg) msg := new(dns.Msg)
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ func TestDoQResolve_PreservesWrongQuestion(t *testing.T) {
ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second) ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
defer cancel() defer cancel()
pool := newDOQConnPool(uc, []string{"127.0.0.1"}) pool := newDOQConnPool(ctx, uc, []string{"127.0.0.1"})
t.Cleanup(pool.CloseIdleConnections) t.Cleanup(pool.CloseIdleConnections)
msg := new(dns.Msg) msg := new(dns.Msg)