Perl versions from 5.9.4 before 5.41.9 produce incorrect regular expression match results when a stale failure flag ends the Aho-Corasick prescan early in S_find_byclass
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 5.41.9 when convenient.
Data as of 10 Nov 2026, 16:36 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CISA-ADP | CVSS 3.1 | 5.3 |
|---|
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 5.41.9
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:LExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 10 Nov 2026.
What to do
Upgrade perl (Perl module) to 5.41.9.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| perl | Affected
| Fixed in
|
CPANperlpkg:cpan/perlOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
Perl versions from 5.9.4 before 5.41.9 produce incorrect regular expression match results when a stale failure flag ends the Aho-Corasick prescan early in S_find_byclass. The prescan walks the subject for positions where the full pattern could match, and the engine tries it from the leftmost one recorded. A failing transition sets the failed flag, and a later successful transition does not clear it, so the prescan reads the stale flag as a failure and stops before it can record a candidate that starts earlier. It takes a subject where one candidate is recorded and a later character then forces a fallback through a fail link that succeeds. Example: "ABCDE" =~ m/ABCF|BCDE|C/; # matches C at offset 2, not BCDE "ABCDE" =~ m/ABCF|BCDE|C(G)/; # no match, BCDE missed An alternation like this can miss input it should match, or match it on the wrong branch, so an access or filtering decision made from the result can be wrong.
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-19487 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/Perl/perl5/issues/22892 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/Perl/perl5/commit/1a21abacaf6f684928bae8baaa153733c8c238eb.patch (opens in a new tab)
- cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-457936.html (opens in a new tab)
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/13/8 (opens in a new tab)