Out-of-bounds write in DBI
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 fixed, 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
DBI versions before 1.652 for Perl allow a heap out-of-bounds write via an unvalidated numeric placeholder that sets the binder counter in preparse. preparse reserves seven output bytes per input byte, the width of the longest ':p99999' expansion. The ':N' branch parses the number with `atoi(src)` and assigns it to the binder counter with no range check, so a statement containing ':2147483648' leaves the counter negative (-2147483648 with glibc, where atoi wraps). Each following '?' then expands through `sprintf(start, ":p%d", idx++)` to ':p-2147483648', 14 bytes with the terminating NUL where the buffer budgets 7. The placeholder limit added in 1.650 tests the counter against 99,999, which a negative counter passes. Any caller that preparses an untrusted statement into ':pN' style placeholders gets a heap out-of-bounds write that grows with the number of '?' marks following the poisoned placeholder. The '?' and '%s' return styles compare the parsed number against the expected sequence and error out, and are unaffected.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | DBI | before 1.652 | 1.652 | Patch available | CNA |
- DBI Vendor— Affected before 1.652 Fixed in 1.652 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA DBI Fixed in 1.652
Red Hat 4 advisories
- RHSA-2026:71422 Released 2026-09-24 · Red Hat rating Importantperl-DBI security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) perl-DBI-1.643-9.el9_8.6
- RHSA-2026:71608 Released 2026-09-24 · Red Hat rating Importantperl-DBI security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) perl-DBI-1.641-3.el8_10
- RHSA-2026:70753 Released 2026-09-23 · Red Hat rating Importantperl-DBI security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) perl-DBI-1.643-26.el10_2.6
Show 1 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:69112 Released 2026-09-21 · Red Hat rating Importantperl-DBI:1.641 security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) perl-DBI-1.641-10.module+el8.10.0+24875+7c5253dc.aarch64::perl-DBI:1.641, perl-DBI-1.641-10.module+el8.10.0+24875+7c5253dc.ppc64le::perl-DBI:1.641, perl-DBI-1.641-10.module+el8.10.0+24875+7c5253dc.s390x::perl-DBI:1.641 +7
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70753 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:69112 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:71422 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:71608 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-73194
References
Sources
- CVE-2026-73194 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-73194 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- CVE-2026-73194 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences