CPU exhaustion in HTTP::Body for Perl via multipart body rescanning
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-407.
Summary
HTTP::Body versions before 1.23_01 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via quadratic rescanning of a multipart body. When a multipart body has a missing or malformed boundary, the parser searches the whole buffered body again each time a new chunk arrives. A remote attacker can exhaust worker CPU with a few such requests, and no privileges or user interaction are required.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
Description from the CNA
HTTP::Body versions before 1.23_01 for Perl allow CPU exhaustion via quadratic rescanning of a multipart body with a missing or malformed boundary. Before the first part, and between parts, the multipart parser searches the whole buffered body for the next boundary. On a miss it keeps everything and searches again from the start when the next chunk arrives. A body with no boundary, or with a delimiter followed by neither CRLF nor "--", is therefore rescanned on every chunk, taking time quadratic in its size. A remote attacker can exhaust worker CPU with a few such requests.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | HTTP-Body | before 1.23_01 | 1.23_01 | Patch available | CNA |
- HTTP-Body Vendor— Affected before 1.23_01 Fixed in 1.23_01 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Upgrade HTTP-Body to version 1.23_01 or later.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
- Fix · CNA HTTP-Body Fixed in 1.23_01
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-28 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-116133
- 2026-10-28 Alias added: GHSA-xcwx-vggw-cvw9
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-29 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-05 CVSS score added · CISA ADP
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Sources
- CVE-2026-116133 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-116133 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-xcwx-vggw-cvw9 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-116133 · 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