Out-of-bounds read in YVES Sereal::Decoder
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
Sereal::Decoder versions before 5.005 for Perl allow heap out-of-bounds read via crafted input. In Perl/Decoder/srl_decoder.c, srl_read_object() and srl_read_hash() process a COPY tag, a back-reference whose target byte the decoder re-decodes as a fresh tag. When that target byte matches the SHORT_BINARY pattern (an inline string whose length is encoded in the low bits of the tag), the resulting read is not bounded to precede the COPY tag's own offset and can run past the end of the input buffer. An attacker controlled COPY offset can land inside a previously decoded value rather than on a tag boundary, planting a byte that the decoder reads as a SHORT_BINARY tag and consuming up to 31 following bytes from the heap as a class name (OBJECT path) or hash key (HASH path).
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Sereal::Decoder (YVES) Fixed in 5.005
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-8796
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-xhpj-269v-vq2q
References
More YVES vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-13025 Out-of-bounds write in YVES Sereal::Encoder CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
- TI-2024-13024 Out-of-bounds write in YVES Sereal::Decoder CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-8796 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-8796 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-xhpj-269v-vq2q · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-8796 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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