Skip to content
Noroxi
NVD / CVE Program· CNA CPANSec

CVE-2026-8376: Perl versions before 5.40.5-RC1, from 5.41.0 before 5.42.3-RC1, from 5.43.0 before 5.43.11 have a heap buffer overflow when compiling regular expressions with a

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 39/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.48% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: azl3 perl 5.38.2-509 on Azure Linux 3.0 5.38.2-511; azl3 perl 5.38.2-512 on Azure Linux 3.0 5.38.2-512.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to azl3 perl 5.38.2-509 on Azure Linux 3.0 5.38.2-511; azl3 perl 5.38.2-512 on Azure Linux 3.0 5.38.2-512 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Perl versions before 5.40.5-RC1, from 5.41.0 before 5.42.3-RC1, from 5.43.0 before 5.43.11 have a heap buffer overflow when compiling regular expressions with a repeated fixed string on 32-bit builds. Perl_study_chunk in regcomp_study.c checked the size of the joined substring buffer in characters rather than bytes. For a quantified fixed substring with a large minimum count, the byte length mincount * l could overflow SSize_t, producing an undersized SvGROW allocation; the subsequent copy writes past the end of the buffer. A caller that compiles an attacker-controlled regular expression on a 32-bit perl build triggers a heap buffer overflow at compile time.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 25, 2026
Updated
Sep 8, 2026
EPSS
0.4% · 41th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

39

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-8376

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits instantly.

Your free account also gets you

Running WordPress? Scan your site free with WP Lens

  • Stack alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Running WordPress? Scan your site free with WP Lens

Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

We use this product, ask for help

Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
perlperl

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • perl perlup to 5.43.10 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (CPANSec). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • cpan.org/modules perl

    • before 5.40.5-RC1affected
    • 5.41.0 and later · before 5.42.3-RC1affected
    • 5.43.0 and later · before 5.43.11affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12perlbefore 5.36.0-7+deb12u45.36.0-7+deb12u4
Debian:13perlbefore 5.40.1-6+deb13u15.40.1-6+deb13u1
Debian:14perlbefore 5.40.1-85.40.1-8
openSUSE:Leap 16.0perlbefore 5.42.0-160000.3.15.42.0-160000.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3perlbefore 5.26.1-150300.17.23.15.26.1-150300.17.23.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSSperlbefore 5.18.2-12.35.15.18.2-12.35.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0perlbefore 5.42.0-160000.3.15.42.0-160000.3.1
SUSE:Linux Micro 6.0perlbefore 5.38.2-5.15.38.2-5.1
SUSE:Linux Micro 6.1perlbefore 5.38.2-slfo.1.1_3.15.38.2-slfo.1.1_3.1

Same product

perl: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2012-6329The _compile function in Maketext.pm in the Locale::Maketext implementation in Perl before 5.17.7 does not properly handle backslashes and f
    49Plan
  • CVE-2018-18311Perl before 5.26.3 and 5.28.x before 5.28.1 has a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression that triggers invalid write operations.
    43Plan
  • CVE-2018-18312Perl before 5.26.3 and 5.28.0 before 5.28.1 has a buffer overflow via a crafted regular expression that triggers invalid write operations.
    43Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2025-40909May 30, 2025 · Perl threads have a working directory race condition where file operations may target unintended paths
    23Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-4176Mar 29, 2026 · Perl versions from 5.9.4 before 5.40.4-RC1, from 5.41.0 before 5.42.2-RC1, from 5.43.0 before 5.43.9 contain a vulnerable version of Compress::Raw::Zlib
    39Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-13221Jul 13, 2026 · Perl versions before 5.40.5-RC1, from 5.41.0 before 5.42.3-RC1, from 5.43.0 before 5.43.10 produce silently incorrect regular expression matches when an alterna
    36Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
azl3 perl 5.38.2-509 on Azure Linux 3.05.38.2-511 · CBL-Mariner ReleasesMicrosoft (MSRC)
azl3 perl 5.38.2-512 on Azure Linux 3.05.38.2-512 · CBL-Mariner ReleasesMicrosoft (MSRC)
debian:perl5.36.0-7+deb12u4 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
debian:perl5.40.1-6+deb13u1 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:perl5.42.0-160000.3.1 · openSUSE:Leap 16.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:perl5.42.0-160000.3.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records