# CVE-2011-0761: Null dereference in n/a

> Attackers can cause a denial of service in Perl applications by injecting arguments into specific system call functions, leading to a crash.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not stated
- **Attackable:** Not stated
- **Victim action needed:** Not stated
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 May 2011
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2011-0761, GHSA-mmv5-472c-pf4c

## What is CVE-2011-0761?

CVE-2011-0761 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 13 May 2011. 

### Official description

Perl 5.10.x allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and application crash) by leveraging an ability to inject arguments into a (1) getpeername, (2) readdir, (3) closedir, (4) getsockname, (5) rewinddir, (6) tell, or (7) telldir function call.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-0761?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Perl Perl.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-0761?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2011-0761 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2011-0761 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Perl 5.10 - Multiple Null Pointer Dereference Denial of Service Vulnerabilities (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2026-4176](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-4176/): Supply chain in perl (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-48522](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48522/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-12814](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12814/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-8608](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8608/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-13221](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13221/): Integer overflow in perl:perl (critical 9.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-0761 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-0761 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 13 May 2011. 
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2011-0761 exists.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0761/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0761/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-0761
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-0761
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-0761

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0761/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.