Perl versions through 5.43.9 produce silently incorrect regular expression matches when an alternation of more than 65535 fixed string branches is compiled into a trie in Perl_study_chunk
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.1 Critical · fixed in 5.43.10 : patch perl (Perl module) as a priority.
Data as of 10 Nov 2026, 16:36 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CISA-ADP | CVSS 3.1 | 9.1 |
|---|
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 5.43.10, 5.42.3-RC1, 5.40.5-RC1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 Jul 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 5.43.10, 5.42.3-RC1 or 5.40.5-RC1.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| perl | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| perl | 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 through 5.43.9 produce silently incorrect regular expression matches when an alternation of more than 65535 fixed string branches is compiled into a trie in Perl_study_chunk. When such branches are combined into a trie, the delta between the first branch and the shared tail is stored in a 16-bit field. A branch count above 65535 overflows the field, and the trie's match decision table is truncated with no warning or error. A pattern of this shape produces false positive matches (matching strings it should not) and false negative matches (failing to match strings it should). When such a pattern gates an access or filtering decision, the result is wrong.
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-13221 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/Perl/perl5/issues/23388 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/Perl/perl5/commit/03f74bbbd3a68350d926ee93d56ee4808c28c4c7.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/2026/07/13/5 (opens in a new tab)