Vulnerability · Published Oct 30, 2026 · Assigned by CPANSec
CVE-2026-115865Starlet versions before 0.33 for Perl allow a request declaring a large Content-Length to kill a worker by exhausting memory
Unrated
In plain English
A security flaw in Starlet. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 15% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Starlet versions before 0.33 for Perl allow a request declaring a large Content-Length to kill a worker by exhausting memory. The request body is read in a loop that asks sysread for all of the remaining declared length at once. Perl grows the read buffer to that size before any data arrives, so a length larger than available memory makes the worker exit with an uncatchable out of memory error before the application is called. A remote attacker can force a worker restart with each request of a few bytes.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | starlet | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-115865 |
| Debian:13 | starlet | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-115865 |
| Debian:14 | starlet | 0.33-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-115865 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | starlet | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-115865 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | starlet | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-115865 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | starlet | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-115865 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | starlet | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-115865 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Starlet | 0 – before 0.33 |
Weakness: CWE-789