Query response was categorized as THROWAWAY

I have been compiling and building unbound in a docker container for years without issues.

Lately however I have an issue with 1.26 version giving me errors.

root@unbound-dns:/etc/unbound# tail unbound.log
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: query response was categorized as THROWAWAY
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: response for . NS IN
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: reply from <.> 198.41.0.4#53
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: query response was categorized as THROWAWAY
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: response for . NS IN
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: reply from <.> 192.33.4.12#53
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: query response was categorized as THROWAWAY
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: response for . NS IN
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: reply from <.> 199.7.83.42#53
Aug 16 16:03:41 unbound[314:0] info: query response was categorized as THROWAWAY
root@unbound-dns:/etc/unbound#

When I test and ping the root hosts its fine. But when I tried test with “dig @127.0.0.1 cnn.com” I am getting these errors. Netstat -an returns all proper results

root@unbound-dns:/etc/unbound# netstat -an
Active Internet connections (servers and established)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:953 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:*
udp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:*
udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:*
udp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:*
udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:*
udp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:*
udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:53 0.0.0.0:*
udp 0 0 172.17.0.2:53 0.0.0.0:*
Active UNIX domain sockets (servers and established)

unbound.conf

server:
port: 53
interface: eth0
interface: 127.0.0.1

verbosity: 2
logfile: “/etc/unbound/unbound.log”
log-time-ascii: yes

module-config: “respip validator iterator”

username: “unbound”
directory: “/etc/unbound”
chroot: “/etc/unbound”

#access-control: 0.0.0.0/0 refuse
access-control: 127.0.0.0/8 allow
access-control: 192.168.0.0/16 allow
access-control: 172.16.0.0/12 allow
access-control: 172.17.0.0/16 allow

do-ip4: yes
do-udp: yes
do-tcp: yes
do-ip6: no

tls-cert-bundle: “/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt”

Memory config

num-threads: 2
msg-cache-slabs: 4
rrset-cache-slabs: 4
infra-cache-slabs: 4
key-cache-slabs: 4

ROOT Server’s

root-hints: “/etc/unbound/root.hints”

DNSSEC

auto-trust-anchor-file: “/etc/unbound/root.key”

remote-control:
control-enable: yes
control-use-cert: no
control-interface: 127.0.0.1
control-port: 953

root@unbound-dns:/etc/unbound# unbound -V
Version 1.26.0

Configure line: --build=x86_64-linux-gnu --prefix=/usr --includedir=/include --mandir=/share/man --infodir=/share/info --sysconfdir=/etc --localstatedir=/var --disable-option-checking --disable-silent-rules --libdir=/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --libexecdir=/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --disable-maintainer-mode --disable-dependency-tracking --disable-rpath --with-pidfile=/run/unbound.pid --with-rootkey-file=/etc/unbound/root.key --with-libevent --with-chroot-dir=/etc/unbound --libdir=/usr/lib --with-pthreads --enable-tfo-client --enable-tfo-server
Linked libs: libevent 2.1.12-stable (it uses epoll), OpenSSL 3.5.6 7 Apr 2026
Linked modules: dns64 respip validator iterator
TCP Fastopen feature available

Any suggestions?

FYI. I found the problem was with my pfsense firewall. It was trying to redirect DNS traffic.

Once I removed the rule all works as designed.