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.
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
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | libsereal-decoder-perl | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-8796 |
| Debian:13 | libsereal-decoder-perl | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-8796 |
| Debian:14 | libsereal-decoder-perl | 5.006+ds-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-8796 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | libsereal-decoder-perl | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | libsereal-decoder-perl | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796 |
| Ubuntu:25.10 | libsereal-decoder-perl | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | libsereal-decoder-perl | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-8796 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| 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