Infinite loop in Net-IDN-Encode
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-835.
Summary
Net::IDN::Punycode versions before 2.590 for Perl hang, crash or return a wrong label via unvalidated malformed UTF-8 in encode_punycode. Neither backend checks that its input is well-formed UTF-8, so a string with the UTF-8 flag set over malformed bytes, as the :utf8 PerlIO layer produces from any malformed input, reaches the encoder unchecked. On perl 5.32 and later the XS backend reports a malformed sequence with a length of `(STRLEN)-1`, so the scan steps back one byte instead of forward and never ends. On earlier perls the XS returns a valid label for a different name. The pure-Perl backend runs a regex over the flagged string. Depending on the bytes, it aborts with SIGBUS on perl 5.28 and later, dies with a panic, or returns a wrong label. The documented conversion functions match the label against Unicode properties first and that match dies on such a string, so only a direct call to encode_punycode reaches the defect. The decoder is not affected. A direct caller encoding attacker-supplied bytes hangs, crashes or gets a label for a name the input never held.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Net-IDN-Encode | before 2.590 | 2.590 | Patch available | CNA |
- Net-IDN-Encode Vendor— Affected before 2.590 Fixed in 2.590 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Net-IDN-Encode Fixed in 2.590
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-87082
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-4v8j-337r-265v
- 2026-10-13 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
- 2026-10-13 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
Patch 4
- https://github.com/robrwo/Net-IDN-Encode/commit/0918fb4a951ed5f4494c4cf202419c2842507ea4.patch
- https://github.com/robrwo/Net-IDN-Encode/commit/59dc7f2c605a897bcbfe0ac5eb2b8dbe6792348d.patch
- https://github.com/robrwo/Net-IDN-Encode/commit/accb6df57ad107ec0c4bfb27b21551eed97c700e.patch
- https://github.com/robrwo/Net-IDN-Encode/commit/572af0183b3a6294e22c6b509268da09697cf77d.patch
Sources
- CVE-2026-87082 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-87082 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-4v8j-337r-265v · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-87082 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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