Vulnerability · Published May 31, 2026 · Assigned by CPANSec

CVE-2026-8796Sereal::Decoder versions before 5.005 for Perl allow heap out-of-bounds read via crafted input

High 8.1

In plain English

A high-severity out-of-bounds read in Sereal::Decoder from YVES. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 34% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)8.1High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.4%top 65.6% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Sereal::Decoder versions before 5.005 for Perl allow heap out-of-bounds read via crafted input. In Perl/Decoder/srl_decoder.c, srl_read_object() and srl_read_hash() process a COPY tag, a back-reference whose target byte the decoder re-decodes as a fresh tag. When that target byte matches the SHORT_BINARY pattern (an inline string whose length is encoded in the low bits of the tag), the resulting read is not bounded to precede the COPY tag's own offset and can run past the end of the input buffer. An attacker controlled COPY offset can land inside a previously decoded value rather than on a tag boundary, planting a byte that the decoder reads as a SHORT_BINARY tag and consuming up to 31 following bytes from the heap as a class name (OBJECT path) or hash key (HASH path).

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12libsereal-decoder-perlno fix listedDEBIAN-CVE-2026-8796
Debian:13libsereal-decoder-perlno fix listedDEBIAN-CVE-2026-8796
Debian:14libsereal-decoder-perl5.006+ds-1DEBIAN-CVE-2026-8796
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlibsereal-decoder-perlno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlibsereal-decoder-perlno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796
Ubuntu:25.10libsereal-decoder-perlno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSlibsereal-decoder-perlno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
YVES Sereal::Decoder 0 – before 5.005

Weakness: CWE-125 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

References