Starman for Perl lets stalled request bodies exhaust all workers
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-770.
Summary
Starman versions before 0.4019 for Perl read request bodies with blocking reads and no deadline, because read_timeout covers only the headers (CWE-770). A remote attacker who sends complete headers and then stalls or trickles the body keeps a worker waiting until the client disconnects. A few such connections can occupy every worker, five with the default worker count, so the server stops answering requests.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-02
Description from the CNA
Starman versions before 0.4019 for Perl allow a stalled request body to hold a worker indefinitely, as read_timeout covers only the headers. Content-Length and chunked request bodies are read with blocking reads and no deadline. A client that sends complete headers and then stalls or trickles the body keeps the worker waiting until it disconnects. A remote attacker can take every worker with a few such connections, five with the default worker count, so the server stops answering requests. Version 0.4019 applies read_timeout to each wait for body data and adds a body_timeout limit, 300 seconds by default, on the total time to read a body.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Starman | before 0.4019 | 0.4019 | Patch available | CNA |
- Starman Vendor— Affected before 0.4019 Fixed in 0.4019 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Upgrade Starman to version 0.4019, which applies read_timeout to each wait for body data and adds body_timeout, 300 seconds by default, on the total time to read a body.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-02
- Fix · CNA Starman Fixed in 0.4019
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-25 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-115817
- 2026-10-27 Alias added: GHSA-xcqf-6xfj-3q3x
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-29 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-02 CVSS score added · CISA ADP
- 2026-11-02 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Sources
- CVE-2026-115817 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-115817 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-xcqf-6xfj-3q3x · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-115817 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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