HTTP::Date versions before 6.08 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via polynomial regex backtracking in parse_date

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-14741
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerCPANSec
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-17 16:17:13 UTC
Updated2026-07-21 15:16:30 UTC
DescriptionHTTP::Date versions before 6.08 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via polynomial regex backtracking in parse_date. parse_date() matches the date string against a chain of alternative regexes, and str2time() delegates to it. Several of these patterns place unbounded quantifiers next to each other before a trailing `\s*$` anchor. A valid date prefix followed by a long interior run of digits, letters, or whitespace and a single trailing byte that defeats the final match forces the engine to repartition the run, giving polynomial (about quadratic) backtracking. A header value of a few tens of kilobytes runs for tens of seconds of CPU. HTTP::Date parses timestamps such as HTTP `Date`, `Expires`, and `Last-Modified` headers, which commonly originate from untrusted sources. Any caller that passes an untrusted date header to str2time() or parse_date() can be driven to consume unbounded CPU, a denial of service.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.5 HIGH from ADP

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

EPSS: 0.002090000 probability, percentile 0.111700000 (date 2026-07-21)

Problem Types: CWE-1333 | CWE-1333 CWE-1333 Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1ADPDECLARED7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.1134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0Secondary7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA OALDERS HTTPDate affected 6.08 custom Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/libwww-perl/HTTP-Date/pull/33 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e github.com
metacpan.org/release/OALDERS/HTTP-Date-6.08/changes 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e metacpan.org
github.com/libwww-perl/HTTP-Date/commit/78c20952cdfbf11e03cf1199ad70f132... 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e github.com
www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/17/10 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Additional Advisory Data

SourceTimeEvent
CNA2026-07-09T00:00:00.000ZVersion 6.08 released with the fix.

Solutions

CNA: Upgrade to HTTP::Date 6.08 or later, which rejects input longer than 64 characters before the date-parsing regexes run.

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