Heap-based buffer overflow in Net-IDN-Encode
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-122 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Net::IDN::Punycode versions before 2.301 for Perl allow a heap buffer overflow via unchecked writes past the output buffer in encode_punycode. The XS backend builds the encoded label in the string buffer of the scalar it returns, sized from the input length. The loop that emits the digits of each code point checks for room before every write, but the write of the last digit of each round and the write of the terminating NUL do not, so an input whose encoded form fills the buffer writes past its end. Only the XS backend is affected. Encoding an attacker-supplied string corrupts the heap.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Net-IDN-Encode | before 2.301 | 2.301 | Patch available | CNA |
- Net-IDN-Encode Vendor— Affected before 2.301 Fixed in 2.301 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Net-IDN-Encode Fixed in 2.301
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2016-15059
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-6764-w6g6-m249
References
Sources
- CVE-2016-15059 · CVE Program
- CVE-2016-15059 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-6764-w6g6-m249 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2016-15059 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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