Perl versions through 5.43.9 produce silently incorrect regular expression matches when an alternation of more than 65535 fixed string branches is compiled into a trie in Perl_study_chunk
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-13221 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | CPANSec |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-07-13 17:16:48 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-07-14 18:15:18 UTC |
| Description | Perl versions through 5.43.9 produce silently incorrect regular expression matches when an alternation of more than 65535 fixed string branches is compiled into a trie in Perl_study_chunk. When such branches are combined into a trie, the delta between the first branch and the shared tail is stored in a 16-bit field. A branch count above 65535 overflows the field, and the trie's match decision table is truncated with no warning or error. A pattern of this shape produces false positive matches (matching strings it should not) and false negative matches (failing to match strings it should). When such a pattern gates an access or filtering decision, the result is wrong. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.1 CRITICAL from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
EPSS: 0.002070000 probability, percentile 0.108440000 (date 2026-07-14)
Problem Types: CWE-190 | CWE-190 CWE-190 Integer Overflow or Wraparound
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Primary | 9.1 | CRITICAL | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | ADP | DECLARED | 9.1 | CRITICAL | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | Secondary | 9.1 | CRITICAL | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
HighAvailability
HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/13/5 | af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 | www.openwall.com | Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory |
| github.com/Perl/perl5/commit/03f74bbbd3a68350d926ee93d56ee4808c28c4c7.patch | 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e | github.com | Patch |
| github.com/Perl/perl5/issues/23388 | 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e | github.com | Issue Tracking |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
Additional Advisory Data
Solutions
CNA: Apply the upstream patch. The fix is included in the Perl 5.43.10 development release.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.